Nonstop flight route between Okinawa, Japan and Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naha Airport (OKA), Okinawa, Japan and Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,296 miles (or 14,961 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 Naha Airport and Princess Juliana 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 Naha Airport and Princess Juliana International 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 Naha Airport (OKA):

• The airport is served by the Okinawa Monorail which carries passengers from Naha-kūkō Station to the center of Naha, and to the terminal at Shuri Station near Shuri Castle.
• The closest airport to Naha Airport (OKA) is Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) NE of OKA.
• In addition to being known as "Naha Airport", other names for OKA include "那覇空港" and "Naha Kūkō".
• Naha Airport (OKA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Naha Airport (OKA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Naha Airport (meaning Naha Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• Oroku Aerodrome, an Imperial Japanese Navy airfield, opened in 1933.
• Because of Naha Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Naha 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.
• Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.

Facts about Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM):

• Despite the reputed difficulties in approach, there have been no records of major incidents at the airport, although ALM Flight 980 crashed 30 miles from St.
• Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Since official opening of the new control tower, PJIA air traffic controllers have two radar systems at their disposal with ranges of 50 nautical miles and 250 nautical miles.
• Because of Princess Juliana International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Princess Juliana 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.
• The furthest airport from Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Princess Juliana International Airport (meaning Princess Juliana International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of SXM.
• Runway 10/28 was renumbered from 09/27 in late 2008.
• However, the oil price increases since 2003 began impacting discretionary air travel worldwide by early 2008, and the prospect of further price increases threatens to reverse the recent expansion of tourist travel by jet which began with the 1980s oil glut.
• Because of increased passenger traffic and the expected growth of passenger traffic in the near future, Princess Juliana International Airport is being heavily modernized following a three-phased masterplan, commissioned in 1997.
• PJIA is equipped with VOR/DME and NDB.