Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Armidale, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Armidale Airport (ARM), Armidale, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,909 miles (or 9,510 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 Eareckson Air Station and Armidale 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 Eareckson Air Station and Armidale 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 Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Armidale Airport (ARM):

• Armidale Airport (ARM) has 2 runways.
• A Tamworth-Armidale-Brisbane route was served by QantasLink until 2002, when the service was taken over by MacAir Airlines until January 2003, after which time it was operated by Sunshine Express Airlines before the company ceased scheduled flying in 2006.
• The furthest airport from Armidale Airport (ARM) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 11,955 miles (19,239 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• Hazelton Airlines, an affiliate of Ansett Australia, operated between Sydney and Armidale from 1989 until the company collapsed in 2002.
• The closest airport to Armidale Airport (ARM) is Inverell Airport (IVR), which is located 52 miles (84 kilometers) NNW of ARM.
• Regional Express Airlines operated to Sydney in competition with QantasLink between 2004 and 2006, however the airline withdrew the services citing a lack of demand on the loss making route.