Nonstop flight route between Arona, Ulawa Island, Solomon Islands and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ulawa Airport (RNA), Arona, Ulawa Island, Solomon Islands and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,382 miles (or 7,052 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 Ulawa 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 Ulawa 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 Ulawa Airport (RNA):

• The closest airport to Ulawa Airport (RNA) is Kirakira Airport (IRA), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) S of RNA.
• The furthest airport from Ulawa Airport (RNA) is Bubaque Airport (BQE), which is nearly antipodal to Ulawa Airport (meaning Ulawa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bubaque Airport), and is located 12,258 miles (19,728 kilometers) away in Bubaque, Guinea-Bissau.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• On 27 January 1992 the 5073rd Air Base Group located at Shemya AFB was re-designated as the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force 673d Air Base Group.
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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 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.
• 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.