Nonstop flight route between Savannah, Georgia (near Hilton Head, South Carolina), United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), Savannah, Georgia (near Hilton Head, South Carolina), United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,041 miles (or 8,113 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 Savannah / Hilton Head International 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 Savannah / Hilton Head International 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 Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport (SAV):

• Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) is Hunter Army Airfield (SVN), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SSE of SAV.
• The first Savannah Municipal Airport opened on September 20, 1929 with the inauguration of air service between New York City and Miami by Eastern Air Express.
• Because of Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport's relatively low elevation of 50 feet, planes can take off or land at Savannah / Hilton Head International 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.
• The furthest airport from Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,485 miles (18,484 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.