Nonstop flight route between Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Kobe Airport (UKB), Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,498 miles (or 2,411 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 relatively short distance between Saipan International Airport and Kobe Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• The IJNAS assigned two squadrons of Mitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
• 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.
• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Kobe Airport (UKB):

• The airport finally opened on February 16, 2006, with Japan Airlines operating the first flight and All Nippon Airways operating the first scheduled flight.
• Kobe is already the most indebted municipality in Japan with debts of over ¥3 trillion, and this project's cost has made it very controversial.
• The furthest airport from Kobe Airport (UKB) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Kobe Airport", other names for UKB include "神戸空港" and "Kōbe Kūkō".
• Because of Kobe Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobe 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.
• Kobe Airport (UKB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kobe Airport (UKB) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of UKB.
• Some international charter flights also use Kobe Airport.