Nonstop flight route between Oak Harbor, Washington, United States and Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NAS Whidbey Island (NUW), Oak Harbor, Washington, United States and Kumamoto Airport (KMJ), Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,232 miles (or 8,419 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 NAS Whidbey Island and Kumamoto 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 NAS Whidbey Island and Kumamoto Airport. 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 NAS Whidbey Island (NUW):

• In early 1965, patrol squadrons began to leave NAS Whidbey.
• A lightly utilized satellite airfield, Naval Outlying Landing Field Coupeville, is located on central Whidbey Island at 48°11′24″N 122°37′48″W / 48.19000°N 122.63000°W / 48.19000.
• In addition to being known as "NAS Whidbey Island", another name for NUW is "Ault Field".
• On September 21, 1942, the air station's first Commanding Officer, CAPT Cyril Thomas Simard, read the orders and the watch was set.
• The furthest airport from NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,730 miles (17,268 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) has 2 runways.
• Because of NAS Whidbey Island's relatively low elevation of 47 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Whidbey Island 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 NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) is A.J. Eisenberg Airport (ODW), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of NUW.

Facts about Kumamoto Airport (KMJ):

• Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The first Kumamoto Airport opened in 1960 on the site of a former Imperial Japanese Army air base and had a 1,200 m runway.
• The furthest airport from Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kumamoto Airport (meaning Kumamoto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Kumamoto Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumamoto 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.
• The closest airport to Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of KMJ.
• In addition to being known as "Kumamoto Airport", other names for KMJ include "熊本空港" and "Kumamoto Kūkō".
• China Airlines charter service to Kaohsiung was announced in 2014 in order to cater to packaged tours from Taiwan.