Nonstop flight route between Humacao, Puerto Rico, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Humacao Airport (HUC), Humacao, Puerto Rico, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,380 miles (or 10,268 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 Humacao Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Humacao Airport and Eareckson Air Station. 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 Humacao Airport (HUC):

• Because of the new José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Ceiba which opened in November 2008, Humacao Airport and Fajardo Airport are scheduled to shut down operations.
• The closest airport to Humacao Airport (HUC) is Diego Jiménez Torres Airport (FAJ), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of HUC.
• In addition to being known as "Humacao Airport", another name for HUC is "X63".
• Humacao Airport (HUC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Humacao Airport (HUC) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Humacao Airport (meaning Humacao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,233 miles (19,686 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Humacao Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Humacao 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.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
• The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.