Nonstop flight route between Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Natori, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pierre Regional Airport (PIR), Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Sendai Airport (SDJ), Natori, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,577 miles (or 8,976 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 Pierre Regional Airport and Sendai 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 Pierre Regional Airport and Sendai 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 Pierre Regional Airport (PIR):

• In addition to being known as "Pierre Regional Airport", another name for PIR is "Pierre Army Airfield".
• The furthest airport from Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,493 miles (16,887 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Mobridge Municipal Airport (MBG), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) N of PIR.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 15,983 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 13,692 in 2009 and 14,686 in 2010.

Facts about Sendai Airport (SDJ):

• To the south side of the airport are the facilities for small private aircraft, helipads and aircraft hangars.
• The furthest airport from Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Sendai Airport (SDJ) has 2 runways.
• The control tower, Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau office and Air Cargo Terminal are located on the west side of the main terminal building.
• The closest airport to Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WNW of SDJ.
• Because of Sendai Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Sendai 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.
• Because of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, all scheduled service were suspended from 11 March 2011 until 13 April 2011.
• In 1957, the runway was extended to 1,200 metres and Nippon Helicopter Transport established a route from Tokyo's to Sendai.
• To reopen the airport, on 16 March 2011 a team from the United States Air Force's 320th Special Tactics Squadron from Kadena Air Base parachuted into Matsushima, Miyagi, then moved overland to the airport.
• In addition to being known as "Sendai Airport", other names for SDJ include "仙台空港" and "Sendai Kūkō".