Nonstop flight route between Lorient, France and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT), Lorient, France and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,493 miles (or 8,841 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 Lorient South Brittany 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 Lorient South Brittany 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 Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT):

• The closest airport to Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) is Meucon Airport (VNE), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) E of LRT.
• In addition to being known as "Lorient South Brittany Airport", another name for LRT is "Aéroport de Lorient Bretagne Sud".
• Because of Lorient South Brittany Airport's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at Lorient South Brittany 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 airport is comparatively large, 3 km by 3 km, which is due to its being built during the Second World War to support German submarine operations from the nearby base in Lorient.
• Lorient South Brittany Airport or Aéroport de Lorient Bretagne Sud, also known as Lorient-Lann-Bihoué Airport, is the airport serving the city of Lorient.
• The furthest airport from Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) is Oamaru Airport (OAM), which is nearly antipodal to Lorient South Brittany Airport (meaning Lorient South Brittany Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Oamaru Airport), and is located 12,112 miles (19,493 kilometers) away in Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand.
• Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) has 2 runways.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands near the larger island of Attu, and is located approximately 1500 miles southwest of Anchorage.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• In July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.