Nonstop flight route between Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lake Murray Airport (LMY), Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,549 miles (or 7,321 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 Lake Murray 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 Lake Murray 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 Lake Murray Airport (LMY):

• The closest airport to Lake Murray Airport (LMY) is Aiambak Airport (AIH), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SW of LMY.
• The furthest airport from Lake Murray Airport (LMY) is Parnaíba–Prefeito Dr. João Silva Filho International Airport (PHB), which is located 11,717 miles (18,857 kilometers) away in Parnaiba, Piaui, Brazil.
• Because of Lake Murray Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Lake Murray 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.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• 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.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• Eareckson Air Station is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.
• In July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.