Nonstop flight route between Kumasi, Ghana and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kumasi Airport (KMS), Kumasi, Ghana and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,323 miles (or 13,395 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 Kumasi 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 Kumasi 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 Kumasi Airport (KMS):

• Kumasi Airport (KMS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Kumasi Airport is an airport serving Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region in Ghana.
• The furthest airport from Kumasi Airport (KMS) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Kumasi Airport (meaning Kumasi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,301 miles (19,796 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
• The closest airport to Kumasi Airport (KMS) is Sunyani Airport (NYI), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) NW of KMS.
• The airport was closed for a week in September - October 2012 to allow resurfacing of the tarmac.
• Because of Kumasi Airport's relatively low elevation of 942 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumasi 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.
• The project, valued at about $300 million, would see the construction of a new two-storey ultra-modern terminal, restaurants, shopping and parking areas, and a ring road around the airport.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• 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.
• 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.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• 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.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.