Nonstop flight route between Sidney, Montana, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY), Sidney, Montana, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,431 miles (or 5,521 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 Sidney-Richland Municipal 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 Sidney-Richland Municipal 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 Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY):

• The furthest airport from Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,383 miles (16,711 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Scheduled air service temporarily ceased on March 8, 2008, when Big Sky Airlines ended operations in bankruptcy.
• The closest airport to Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) is Sloulin Field International Airport (ISN), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) NE of SDY.
• Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport covers an area of 335 acres at an elevation of 1,985 feet above mean sea level.
• Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) has 2 runways.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• 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.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• In 1966 the Air Defense Command 9th Air Division assumed jurisdiction of the base.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.