Nonstop flight route between Pilot Station, Alaska, United States and Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pilot Station Airport (PQS), Pilot Station, Alaska, United States and Ishigaki Airport (ISG), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,193 miles (or 6,747 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 Pilot Station Airport and Ishigaki 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 Pilot Station Airport and Ishigaki 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 Pilot Station Airport (PQS):

• Pilot Station Airport (PQS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pilot Station Airport", another name for PQS is "0AK".
• The furthest airport from Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,503 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is St. Mary's Airport (KSM), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) NW of PQS.
• Because of Pilot Station Airport's relatively low elevation of 305 feet, planes can take off or land at Pilot Station 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 Ishigaki Airport (ISG):

• In addition to being known as "Ishigaki Airport", other names for ISG include "石垣空港" and "Ishigaki Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Ishigaki Airport (meaning Ishigaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• The airport was opened in 1943 for military use, and converted to a civilian airport in 1956.
• Flight 611 of Southwest Air Lines is the only significant aircraft accident on record at Ishigaki Airport.
• Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 took off on runway 36 from Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa at 13:09 for a regular flight to Ishigaki Airport, Japan.
• The closest airport to Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Hateruma Airport (HTR), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SW of ISG.
• The airport served about 1.8 million passengers a year, making it the second busiest third-class airport in Japan, behind Kobe Airport, and traffic grew steadily as the Yaeyama Islands become a popular tourist destination.
• Ishigaki Airport (ISG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Ishigaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 86 feet, planes can take off or land at Ishigaki 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.