Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Yamagata, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Shonai Airport (SYO), Yamagata, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,074 miles (or 11,385 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Shonai 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Shonai 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• With the advent of the Jet age, the airport's runway was extended northward into Tampa Bay and the first commercial jet service to PIE was operated by Northwest.
• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater 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 closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
• The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• This historic event marked the beginning of commercial air transportation anywhere in the world and is commemorated by a replica of the Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area.
• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941.

Facts about Shonai Airport (SYO):

• Seiko Epson has also used the airport for weekly employee charter flights to and from Matsumoto since 1997.
• The closest airport to Shonai Airport (SYO) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SE of SYO.
• Because of Shonai Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Shonai 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 Shonai Airport (SYO) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,620 miles (18,701 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Shonai Airport (SYO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Shonai Airport", other names for SYO include "庄内空港" and "Shonai Kūkō".