Nonstop flight route between Mbeya, Tanzania and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mbeya Airport (MBI), Mbeya, Tanzania and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,698 miles (or 13,998 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 Mbeya 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 Mbeya 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 Mbeya Airport (MBI):

• Because of Mbeya Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Mbeya Airport", another name for MBI is "Uwanja wa Ndege wa Mbeya  (Swahili)".
• The furthest airport from Mbeya Airport (MBI) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,553 miles (18,592 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• The closest airport to Mbeya Airport (MBI) is Karonga Airport (KGJ), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) SSE of MBI.
• Mbeya Airport (MBI) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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 (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• 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.