Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,857 miles (or 11,036 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 Invercargill 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 Invercargill 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 Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• Regular jet services operated into the airport until 1995, when Air New Zealand restructured all its secondary provincial routes after subsidiary Mount Cook Airline introduced the 68 seat ATR 72-200 into service.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.
• Since July 2012, Air New Zealand has used Invercargill as a technical stop when conditions in Queenstown restrict aircraft from taking off with sufficient fuel to fly direct to Australia due to weather or operational reasons.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• Although only ever a backup airport during World War II, military operations have remained rare due to Christchurch being chosen as the main Operation Deep Freeze Base in 1949 and what was then Dunedin's Taieri Aerodrome acting as a departure point for shorter range aircraft heading south.
• Because of Invercargill Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Invercargill 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.
• A fully covered baggage carousel was commissioned in 2001.
• The furthest airport from Invercargill Airport (IVC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Invercargill Airport (meaning Invercargill Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,168 miles (19,582 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• The largest aircraft to land at Invercargill is the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, although the runway has been "buzzed" by USAF KC-10 Extenders, Lockheed C-141 Starlifters and C-5 Galaxy.
• The passenger terminal facilities have developed around a striking permanent 'Festival of Britain' two-level structure built in 1963, which features a distinctive lozenge-shaped roof and fully glazed airside walls giving great views of the runway from the upper deck.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands near the larger island of Attu, and is located approximately 1500 miles southwest of Anchorage.
• After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.