Nonstop flight route between Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom and Cold Bay, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Scatsta Airport (SCS), Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom and Cold Bay Airport (CDB), Cold Bay, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,382 miles (or 7,053 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 Scatsta Airport and Cold Bay 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 Scatsta Airport and Cold Bay 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 Scatsta Airport (SCS):

• It was abandoned after World War II, but reinstated as a civilian airport in 1978 to support the Shetland oil industry, and the Sullom Voe oil terminal in particular.
• The closest airport to Scatsta Airport (SCS) is Tingwall Airport (LWK), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) S of SCS.
• The airport was first developed in 1940 as RAF Scatsta, a Royal Air Force fighter plane base to support Coastal Command flying boat operations at RAF Sullom Voe, and was the most northerly base in the British Isles.
• Scatsta Airport (SCS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Scatsta Airport (SCS) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,409 miles (18,361 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Scatsta Airport's relatively low elevation of 81 feet, planes can take off or land at Scatsta 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 balance between oil service flights and "civilian" flights can be judged from the fact that the airport service area has no bar away), no taxi or bus service and three large rooms for helicopter passengers to don their survival suits before embarking.

Facts about Cold Bay Airport (CDB):

• Between 1956 and 1958, Cold Bay Airport was used as a logistics support base during the construction of Cold Bay Air Force Station, a Ground Control Intercept station for Alaskan Air Command during the Cold War.
• The closest airport to Cold Bay Airport (CDB) is King Cove Airport (KVC), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) ESE of CDB.
• On October 30, 2013 a Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300 on the flight from Tokyo to San Francisco landed on the airport due to an engine shut-down.
• The furthest airport from Cold Bay Airport (CDB) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,968 miles (17,652 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Because of Cold Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 102 feet, planes can take off or land at Cold Bay 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 airport was constructed during World War II as Fort Randall Army Airfield during the secret military buildup of the Territory of Alaska that began in 1941.
• In the spring and summer of 1945, Cold Bay was the site of the largest and most ambitious transfer program of World War II, Project Hula, in which the United States transferred 149 ships and craft to the Soviet Union and trained 12,000 Soviet personnel in their operation in anticipation of the Soviet Union entering the war against Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Cold Bay Airport", other names for CDB include "Cold Bay Air Force Station" and "Fort Randall Army Airfield".
• A myth describes Cold Bay Airport as an alternate landing site for Space Shuttles, but the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has stated that it was never so designated, and it was not within the entry crossrange capability of Space Shuttles.
• Cold Bay Airport (CDB) has 2 runways.