Nonstop flight route between Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Napaskiak, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Napaskiak Airport (PKA), Napaskiak, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,076 miles (or 6,560 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 Saipan International Airport and Napaskiak 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 Saipan International Airport and Napaskiak 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 Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
• After several months of disappointing high level bombing attacks from Isely, General Curtis LeMay, Commander of Twentieth Air Force issued a new directive that the high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime, being followed up with high explosive bombs once the targets were set ablaze.
• Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan 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.
• The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
• A Star Marianas plane crashed during takeoff on November 17, 2012 on its return from Tinian.
• The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Japanese tourists began visiting Saipan in large numbers during the 1970s.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".

Facts about Napaskiak Airport (PKA):

• The furthest airport from Napaskiak Airport (PKA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,590 miles (17,042 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Napaskiak Airport (PKA) is Bethel Seaplane Base (JBT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of PKA.
• Napaskiak Airport (PKA) has 2 runways.
• Because of Napaskiak Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Napaskiak 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.