Nonstop flight route between Pensacola, Florida, United States and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from NPA to SPN:
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- About this route
- NPA Airport Information
- SPN Airport Information
- Facts about NPA
- Facts about SPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to NPA
- List of Nearest Airports to NPA
- Map of Furthest Airports from NPA
- List of Furthest Airports from NPA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPN
- List of Nearest Airports to SPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPN
- List of Furthest Airports from SPN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA), Pensacola, Florida, United States and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,715 miles (or 12,416 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 Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field and Saipan International Airport, 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 Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field and Saipan International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NPA / KNPA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pensacola, Florida, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°21'15"N by 87°18'20"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Navy |
Airport Type: | Military: Naval Air Station |
Elevation: | 28 feet (9 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from NPA |
More Information: | NPA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPN / PGSN |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 15°7'8"N by 145°43'45"E |
Operator/Owner: | Commonwealth Ports Authority |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 215 feet (66 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SPN |
More Information: | SPN Maps & Info |
Facts about Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA):
- Pilot training requirements shifted upward to meet the demands for the Vietnam War, which occupied much of the 1960s and 1970s.
- Construction began in April 1826, and the Pensacola Navy Yard, also known as the Warrington Navy Yard, became one of the best equipped naval stations in the country.
- The closest airport to Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) is NOLF Saufley Field (NUN), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NNW of NPA.
- The site now occupied by NAS Pensacola has been controlled by varying nations.
- Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) has 3 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field", another name for NPA is "KNPA - FAA: NPA".
- The furthest airport from Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,154 miles (17,951 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- Upon the entry of the United States into World War I on 6 April 1917, Pensacola, still the only naval air station, had 38 naval aviators, 163 enlisted men trained in aviation support, and 54 fixed-wing aircraft.
- Forrest Sherman Field was opened in 1954 on the western side of NAS Pensacola.
- Because of Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field's relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field 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.
Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):
- Japanese tourists began visiting Saipan in large numbers during the 1970s.
- The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
- The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
- In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
- Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
- With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.
- Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan International 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.