Nonstop flight route between Napier, New Zealand and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE), Napier, New Zealand and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,371 miles (or 10,253 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 Hawke's Bay 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 Hawke's Bay 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 Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE):

• Because of Hawke's Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Hawke's Bay 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.
• Due to booming tourism and commerce in Napier and Hastings extensions to the northern and southern ends of the main runway at Hawkes Bay Airport have just been completed, which provides a total of 1750 metres ( sufficient to accommodate 737-300, B737-800 and A320 aircraft operated by Air New Zealand & Jetstar on domestic operations.
• Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) has 3 runways.
• In November 2013 - Hawkes Bay Airport announced advanced planning to further lengthen its main runway from 1750m to 1940m no later than 2018 and a significant terminal expansion and redevelopment to cope with significantly higher than projected annual increases in passengers numbers through the airport.
• The closest airport to Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) is Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) NW of NPE.
• The furthest airport from Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) is Ciudad Real Central Airport (CQM), which is nearly antipodal to Hawke's Bay Airport (meaning Hawke's Bay Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ciudad Real Central Airport), and is located 12,375 miles (19,916 kilometers) away in Ciudad Real, Spain.
• Hawke's Bay Airport Terminal is a modern well-equipped building, featuring three check-in counters for Air New Zealand and a check-in counter for Sun Air, together with a cafe, seating area and rental car counters.
• Hawke's Bay Airport handled 451,128 passengers last year.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• In 1966 the Air Defense Command 9th Air Division assumed jurisdiction of the base.
• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.