Nonstop flight route between Jolo, Sulu, Philippines and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jolo Airport (JOL), Jolo, Sulu, Philippines and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,390 miles (or 7,065 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 Jolo 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 Jolo 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 Jolo Airport (JOL):

• In August 2008, a Manila-based construction company, CS Santiago Construction, won the bidding for the airport's expansion.
• A three million-dollar expansion project, financed by the United States, seeks to rehabilitate the old airport by expanding the current runway to over 2,000 meters, enabling aircraft as large as the Boeing 737 to land at the airport.
• Because of Jolo Airport's relatively low elevation of 118 feet, planes can take off or land at Jolo 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.
• In addition to being known as "Jolo Airport", another name for JOL is "Paliparan ng Jolo".
• The closest airport to Jolo Airport (JOL) is Zamboanga International Airport (ZAM), which is located 94 miles (151 kilometers) NE of JOL.
• The furthest airport from Jolo Airport (JOL) is Maués Airport (MBZ), which is nearly antipodal to Jolo Airport (meaning Jolo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maués Airport), and is located 12,231 miles (19,683 kilometers) away in Maués, Amazonas, Brazil.
• At the end of the war, the airport, then owned by the United States military, was turned over to the Sulu provincial government.
• Jolo Airport handled 18,749 passengers last year.
• Jolo Airport was constructed in the 1940s during World War II as a staging point for American fighter aircraft.
• Jolo Airport (JOL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• 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 "  ".
• 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 closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.