Nonstop flight route between Ramstein, Germany and Shimojishima, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ramstein Air Base (RMS), Ramstein, Germany and Shimojishima Airport (SHI), Shimojishima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,036 miles (or 9,713 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 Ramstein Air Base and Shimojishima 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 Ramstein Air Base and Shimojishima 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 Ramstein Air Base (RMS):

• Ramstein's wings are assigned to the headquarters 3rd Air Force also based at Ramstein AB, which controls most of the USAF Wings throughout Europe.
• One legacy of the two separate air bases is that the north side of Ramstein retained a separate APO from the south side.
• The closest airport to Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) ENE of RMS.
• In addition to being known as "Ramstein Air Base", another name for RMS is "Ramstein AB".
• Close to Ramstein was the site of Air Defense Operations Center – Kindsbach, AKA 'Kindsbach Cave' – the site of Europe's underground combat operations center.
• In 1940, construction of today's Bundesautobahn 6 was stopped when a bridge that was being built across the Rhine River near Mannheim collapsed, leaving a section of autobahn that could not be used.
• With the creation of NATO in response to Cold War tensions in Europe in 1949, USAFE wanted its vulnerable fighter units in what was then West Germany moved west of the Rhine River to provide greater air defense warning time.
• The furthest airport from Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Ramstein Air Base (meaning Ramstein Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,003 miles (19,316 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Near the Ramstein Air Base is the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, operated by the United States Army.

Facts about Shimojishima Airport (SHI):

• In addition to being known as "Shimojishima Airport", other names for SHI include "下地島空港" and "Shimojishima Kūkō".
• On July 22, 1994 Japan Transocean Air suspended flights.
• The closest airport to Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Miyako Airport (MMY), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ESE of SHI.
• Because of Shimojishima Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Shimojishima 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.
• In the anime Stratos 4, set in an alternate timeline, Shimojishima Airport had become Shimoji airbase sometime after the year 1984.
• In 2004, there were some protests over the use of the airport as a refueling stop by USMC helicopters returning from an exercise in the Philippines.
• Shimojishima Airport (SHI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Shimojishima Airport (meaning Shimojishima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,945 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.