Nonstop flight route between Nanyuki, Kenya and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nanyuki Airfield (NYK), Nanyuki, Kenya and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,042 miles (or 12,942 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 Nanyuki Airfield 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 Nanyuki Airfield 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 Nanyuki Airfield (NYK):

• The closest airport to Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) S of NYK.
• Located on the western foot hills of Mount Kenya, it lies only 8 kilometres, south of the Equator.
• In the early 1990s the airfield became home to Tropic Air Kenya — a small air charter company operating single-engine Cessna aircraft and helicopters.
• The furthest airport from Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Nanyuki Airfield", another name for NYK is "Nanyuki Airport".
• Nanyuki Airfield is open from 6 am to 6 pm daily, with all traffic reporting to the Nanyuki air traffic controller.
• Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Nanyuki Airfield's high elevation of 6,250 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NYK. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NYK a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• 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.