Nonstop flight route between Maun, Botswana and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Maun Airport (MUB), Maun, Botswana and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,686 miles (or 15,589 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 Maun 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 Maun 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 Maun Airport (MUB):

• The furthest airport from Maun Airport (MUB) is Kona International Airport at Keāhole (KOA), which is nearly antipodal to Maun Airport (meaning Maun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kona International Airport at Keāhole), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Kailua / Kona, Hawaii, United States.
• Maun Airport (MUB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Maun Airport (MUB) is Ghanzi Airport (GNZ), which is located 165 miles (266 kilometers) SW of MUB.
• The landing strip in those far-off days was what is today Maun’s main street, the strip later being moved away from the town centre to the present site of the airport.
• The aircraft were awaited as they brought news of the outside world, mail, medicines, foodstuffs, and above all, new people to a community hundreds of kilometres from the nearest big town.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (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.
• 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.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• In July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.