Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Fukuoka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Fukuoka Airport (FUK), Fukuoka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,993 miles (or 9,645 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 Shannon Airport and Fukuoka 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 Shannon Airport and Fukuoka 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport through 2008.
• US Airways operated daily services to Philadelphia until 2008 using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• The last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia and Chicago, a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• In 1966, Aer Lingus began service between Shannon and Chicago, with a stop in Montréal, Canada.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.

Facts about Fukuoka Airport (FUK):

• On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting a war that would last three years.
• The first American units moved into the facility in November 1945, when the 38th Bombardment Group stationed B-25 Mitchells on the airfield.
• The 8th was reassigned back to the United States in July 1964 to George AFB, California where it was equipped with the new F-4C Phantom II and eventually became a major USAF combat wing in Thailand during the Vietnam War.
• Because of Fukuoka Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Fukuoka 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 Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Fukuoka Airport (meaning Fukuoka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,719 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSW of FUK.
• In addition to being known as "Fukuoka Airport", other names for FUK include "福岡空港" and "Fukuoka KūkōItazuke Air Base".
• After the 1953 Armistice in Korea, the wartime combat units were slowly withdrawn back to the United States or reassigned to other airfields in Japan and South Korea.
• As of July 2013, the Japanese government is considering building a second 2,800 m parallel runway within the existing airfield at a cost of 180 billion yen, two-thirds of which would be borne by the national government and the remaining third of which would be borne by the local government, but which would be defrayed by selling the rights to operate the airport to a private company.
• Fukuoka Airport (FUK) currently has only 1 runway.