Nonstop flight route between Saba, Caribbean Netherlands and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB), Saba, Caribbean Netherlands and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,497 miles (or 10,457 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 Juancho E. Yrausquin 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 Juancho E. Yrausquin 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 Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB):

• Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The only airline currently serving Yrausquin Airport is locally owned Winair, which operates daily flights to Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius aboard a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.
• The closest airport to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) is F.D. Roosevelt Airport (EUX), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) ESE of SAB.
• The airport has the shortest commercial runway in the world, only 400 meters long, flanked on one side by high hills, with cliffs that drop into the sea at both ends.
• The furthest airport from Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (meaning Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,225 miles (19,674 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Juancho E. Yrausquin 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 Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.