Nonstop flight route between West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,381 miles (or 8,660 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International Airport (PBI):

• The furthest airport from Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Palm Beach International Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Palm Beach 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.
• Donald Trump sued to block the expansion of one of the runways at PBIA.
• Palm Beach International Airport handled 5,609,168 passengers last year.
• Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) S of PBI.
• Palm Beach International Airport is a public airport three miles west of Palm Beach, Florida, in West Palm Beach, Florida, and serves Palm Beach County.
• After several years of Palm Beach County fighting the Air Force presence in West Palm Beach, the Air Force started to close down operations there.
• On October 23, 1988 the 25-gate David McCampbell Terminal, named for World War II naval flying ace, Medal of Honor recipient and Palm Beach County resident CAPT David McCampbell, USN was dedicated.
• In October 1966 an eight-gate Main Terminal opened on the northeast side of the airport.
• A new 240-foot Airport Traffic Control tower is currently active on the north side of the airport along with a single-story, 9,000-square-foot ATBM Base Building.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• 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 1 April 1995, Eareckson AS was converted to contractor operations and maintenance, providing all support on the island.
• After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.