Nonstop flight route between Hateruma, Okinawa, Japan and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hateruma Airport (HTR), Hateruma, Okinawa, Japan and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,698 miles (or 7,561 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Hateruma Airport and Eielson Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Hateruma Airport and Eielson Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Hateruma Airport (HTR):

• In addition to being known as "Hateruma Airport", other names for HTR include "波照間空港" and "Hateruma Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Hateruma Airport (HTR) is Ishigaki Airport (ISG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NE of HTR.
• The furthest airport from Hateruma Airport (HTR) is Dr. Augusto Roberto Fuster International Airport (PJC), which is nearly antipodal to Hateruma Airport (meaning Hateruma Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dr. Augusto Roberto Fuster International Airport), and is located 12,336 miles (19,853 kilometers) away in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay.
• Because of Hateruma Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Hateruma Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Hateruma Airport (HTR) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at 26-Mile Airfield with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• The 375th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, from the 308th Bombardment Group at Tinker AFB Oklahoma, arrived at Eielson on 5 March 1949.
• On 20 August 1993, the 354 FW replaced the 343d Wing.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• Today the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division can be found training there.
• The 58th Weather Squadron remained at Eielson until 8 August 1958.
• A month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield.