Nonstop flight route between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,686 miles (or 7,542 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 Tân Sơn Nhất 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 Tân Sơn Nhất 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 Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN):

• Tan Son Nhat International Airport is located inside the crowded city of Ho Chi Minh City, making expansions difficult.
• In 2006, Tan Son Nhat International Airport served approximately 8.5 million passengers with 64,000 aircraft movements.
• The closest airport to Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN) is Vung Tau Airport (VTG), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) SE of SGN.
• The furthest airport from Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN) is Jauja AirportFrancisco Carle Airport (JAU), which is nearly antipodal to Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (meaning Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Jauja AirportFrancisco Carle Airport), and is located 12,278 miles (19,760 kilometers) away in Jauja, Peru.
• Domestic flights operate from Terminal 1, whilst international flights use Terminal 2.
• Because of Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Tân Sơn Nhất 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.
• Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport", another name for SGN is "Sân bay Quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất".

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.
• 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.
• 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 July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.