Nonstop flight route between Natori, Japan and Istanbul, Turkey:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sendai Airport (SDJ), Natori, Japan and Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST), Istanbul, Turkey would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,496 miles (or 8,844 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 Sendai Airport and Istanbul Atatürk 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 Sendai Airport and Istanbul Atatürk 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 Sendai Airport (SDJ):

• At the end of World War II, the United States Army took control of the airport and its operations.
• Sendai Airport (SDJ) has 2 runways.
• Although most international services from Sendai came back online following the 2011 disaster, most services between Sendai and China were suspended or cancelled between 2012 and 2013 due to worsened Sino-Japanese relations.
• The airport reopened to limited commercial traffic on 13 April 2011.
• The furthest airport from Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• On 11 March 2011, the airport was first damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and then badly flooded by the subsequent tsunami.
• The closest airport to Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WNW of SDJ.
• The airlines that operate at the airport mainly fly to domestic destinations.
• To reopen the airport, on 16 March 2011 a team from the United States Air Force's 320th Special Tactics Squadron from Kadena Air Base parachuted into Matsushima, Miyagi, then moved overland to the airport.
• In addition to being known as "Sendai Airport", other names for SDJ include "仙台空港" and "Sendai Kūkō".
• The control tower, Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau office and Air Cargo Terminal are located on the west side of the main terminal building.
• Because of Sendai Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Sendai 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 Sendai Airport Line rail link was completed on 18 March 2007 and began service between Sendai Station and Sendai Airport Station.

Facts about Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST):

• The furthest airport from Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,155 miles (17,953 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) has 3 runways.
• Atatürk Airport still faces capacity issues.
• The closest airport to Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) is İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of IST.
• Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers.
• Atatürk shares traffic with Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, which is on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, which had annual passenger traffic of just 11.1 million in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Istanbul Atatürk Airport", another name for IST is "İstanbul Atatürk Havalimanı".
• IST ranked 17th in ACI statistics at the end of 2011 in terms of international traffic with almost 24 Million international passengers.
• Because of Istanbul Atatürk Airport's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at Istanbul Atatürk 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.