Nonstop flight route between Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,678 miles (or 15,576 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 Salgado Filho 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 Salgado Filho 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 Salgado Filho International Airport (POA):

• The total area of the Salgado Filho Airport is about 3,805,810.04 m² with 142,750 m² of ramp area.
• Because of Salgado Filho International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Salgado Filho 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 Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 137 miles (221 kilometers) NE of POA.
• In addition to being known as "Salgado Filho International Airport", another name for POA is "Aeroporto Internacional Salgado Filho".
• In 1932, needing a facility to use its aircraft with landing-gear which were replacing its seaplanes, Varig started using São João Airport as its operational base.
• The bus line T5 link Terminal 1 - International Airport to the city of Porto Alegre.
• The furthest airport from Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) is Yakushima Airport (KUM), which is nearly antipodal to Salgado Filho International Airport (meaning Salgado Filho International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yakushima Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
• Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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 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.
• 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.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service for the logistical support of Korea and Japan.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• 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.
• By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".