Nonstop flight route between Nukutavake, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nukutavake Airport (NUK), Nukutavake, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,717 miles (or 9,200 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 Nukutavake 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 Nukutavake 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 Nukutavake Airport (NUK):

• The furthest airport from Nukutavake Airport (NUK) is Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), which is nearly antipodal to Nukutavake Airport (meaning Nukutavake Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Al-Baha Domestic Airport), and is located 12,362 miles (19,895 kilometers) away in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
• The closest airport to Nukutavake Airport (NUK) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is located 104 miles (167 kilometers) S of NUK.
• In addition to being known as "Nukutavake Airport", another name for NUK is "Aérodrome de Nukutavake".
• Nukutavake Airport (NUK) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.