Nonstop flight route between Mokpo, South Korea and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mokpo Airport (MPK), Mokpo, South Korea and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,623 miles (or 4,222 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 Mokpo 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 Mokpo 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 Mokpo Airport (MPK):

• Mokpo Airport (MPK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mokpo Airport (MPK) is Gwangju Airport (KWJ), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NE of MPK.
• Mokpo Airport opened as a stopover between Seoul-Jeju in 1969 but closed in 1972.
• The furthest airport from Mokpo Airport (MPK) is Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport (PDP), which is nearly antipodal to Mokpo Airport (meaning Mokpo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,880 kilometers) away in Maldonado/Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay.
• Because of Mokpo Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Mokpo 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mokpo Airport", another name for MPK is "목포공항".

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service for the logistical support of Korea and Japan.
• 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 news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• 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.
• 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.