Nonstop flight route between Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan and Alconbury, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yakushima Airport (KUM), Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,997 miles (or 9,652 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 Yakushima Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102, 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 Yakushima Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102. 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 Yakushima Airport (KUM):

• Yakushima Airport (KUM) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Yakushima Airport", other names for KUM include "屋久島空港" and "Yakushima Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), which is nearly antipodal to Yakushima Airport (meaning Yakushima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salgado Filho International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• Because of Yakushima Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Yakushima 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 closest airport to Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Kagoshima Airport (KOJ), which is located 98 miles (158 kilometers) N of KUM.

Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first American Eighth Air Force unit to take residence at RAF Alconbury was the 93d Bombardment Group, known as the "Travelling Circus" from Fort Myers AAF, Florida on 7 September 1942.
• In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
• RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth are the last Second World War-era Eighth Air Force bases in Britain that are still actively in use and controlled by the United States Air Force.
• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,