Nonstop flight route between Niigata, Japan and Aspen, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Niigata Airport (KIJ), Niigata, Japan and Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,661 miles (or 9,111 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 Niigata Airport and Aspen–Pitkin County Airport, 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 Niigata Airport and Aspen–Pitkin County Airport. 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 Niigata Airport (KIJ):

• The closest airport to Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Shonai Airport (SYO), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) NNE of KIJ.
• The furthest airport from Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Niigata Airport (KIJ) has 2 runways.
• The airport saw several major service expansions in the spring of 2012, when China Eastern Airlines, Fuji Dream Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced service to Shanghai, Nagoya and Narita respectively.
• Because of Niigata Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Niigata 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.
• Scheduled "limousine bus" service is provided to and from Niigata Station every 20 minutes and heavily subsidized by Niigata Prefecture.
• In addition to being known as "Niigata Airport", other names for KIJ include "新潟空港" and "Niigata Kūkō".

Facts about Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE):

• One of the potential improvements included in the 2012 Updated Master Plan is the construction of a new airport terminal.
• Historically, the airport was served by a number of airlines over the years including Aspen Airways which introduced the first scheduled passenger jet service into Aspen.
• Because of Aspen–Pitkin County Airport's high elevation of 7,820 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ASE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ASE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Aspen–Pitkin County Airport, also known as Sardy Field, is a county-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Aspen, in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
• Airport operations staff operates from the airport's Operations Center, constructed in 2006 on the west side of the airport.
• On April 4, 2011, the airport began a $15.5 million runway extension project which added 1,000 feet of runway length to the existing 7,006' long runway.
• The furthest airport from Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,971 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Mesaba Airlines operating as Northwest Airlink flew the Avro RJ85, a later version of the BAe 146 jet, on seasonal nonstop flights to Minneapolis/St.
• In addition to being known as "Aspen–Pitkin County Airport", another name for ASE is "Sardy Field".
• Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) N of ASE.