Nonstop flight route between Palmerston North, New Zealand and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palmerston North Airport (PMR), Palmerston North, New Zealand and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,429 miles (or 10,346 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 Palmerston North 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 Palmerston North 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 Palmerston North Airport (PMR):

• The closest airport to Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Wanganui Airport (WAG), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NW of PMR.
• Tauranga Airport, Air New Zealand Link and Palmerston North Airport are in discussions to commence flights between Palmerston North and Tauranga
• Palmerston North Airport handled 449,090 passengers last year.
• Palmerston North Airport (PMR) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Palmerston North Airport (meaning Palmerston North Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• On 17 May 1998, ten people towed a fully fuelled Freedom Air Boeing 737-300 over 100 metres in 47 seconds, to celebrate the opening of the new runway extensions.
• Because of Palmerston North Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Palmerston North 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.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".