Nonstop flight route between St. Mary's, Alaska, United States and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Mary's Airport (KSM), St. Mary's, Alaska, United States and Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,742 miles (or 4,413 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 St. Mary's Airport and Svalbard Airport, Longyear, 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 St. Mary's Airport and Svalbard Airport, Longyear. 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 St. Mary's Airport (KSM):

• Because of St. Mary's Airport's relatively low elevation of 312 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Mary's 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.
• St. Mary's Airport (KSM) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to St. Mary's Airport (KSM) is Mountain Village Airport (MOU), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of KSM.
• The furthest airport from St. Mary's Airport (KSM) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,494 miles (16,889 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.

Facts about Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR):

• The closest airport to Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Honningsvåg Airport, Valan (HVG), which is located 534 miles (859 kilometers) SSE of LYR.
• Because of Svalbard Airport, Longyear's relatively low elevation of 94 feet, planes can take off or land at Svalbard Airport, Longyear 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 "Svalbard Airport, Longyear", another name for LYR is "Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear".
• Lufttransport has been at the airport since 1976.
• Both Braathens SAFE and SAS applied for the concession to fly from the mainland to Norway.
• The first night landing was made on 8 December 1965.
• The furthest airport from Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,170 miles (16,367 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• The runway is 2,483 metres long and aligned 10/28, equipped with instrument landing system, but there are no taxiways.
• Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Svalbard Airport, Longyear handled 126,350 passengers last year.
• While the Catalina was suitable for postal flights, it was not suitable for a permanent solution for transporting passengers and freight, mainly due to its small size.