Nonstop flight route between Wirasaba, Central Java, Indonesia and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport (PWL), Wirasaba, Central Java, Indonesia and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,609 miles (or 9,026 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 Purwokerto / Wirasaba 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 Purwokerto / Wirasaba 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 Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport (PWL):

• The furthest airport from Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport (PWL) is Guasdualito Airport (GDO), which is nearly antipodal to Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport (meaning Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guasdualito Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,981 kilometers) away in Guasdualito, Venezuela.
• The closest airport to Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport (PWL) is Tunggul Wulung Airport (CXP), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) WSW of PWL.
• In addition to being known as "Purwokerto / Wirasaba Airport", other names for PWL include "Bandar Udara Wirasaba" and "WICP".

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• In August 1988, at least one Aries rocket was launched, relating to the Queen Match program, for anti-ballistic missile testing.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Shemya has been the scene of two major earthquakes.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.