Nonstop flight route between Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mashhad International Airport (MHD), Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,145 miles (or 8,280 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 Mashhad International 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 Mashhad International 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 Mashhad International Airport (MHD):

• In addition to being known as "Mashhad International Airport", another name for MHD is "Shahid Hashemi Nejad Airport".
• The closest airport to Mashhad International Airport (MHD) is Ashgabat International Airport (ASB), which is located 140 miles (225 kilometers) NNW of MHD.
• Mashhad International Airport (MHD) has 2 runways.
• Mashhad International Airport handled 7,321,371 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Mashhad International Airport (MHD) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,540 miles (18,572 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• On 10 July 1943, eight B-25 Mitchells from the 77th Bombardment Squadron left Adak AAF and refueled at Alexai Point AAF on Attu.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.