Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Basel, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL), Basel, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,462 miles (or 8,790 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 EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg, 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 EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg. 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 closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• 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 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• On 1 April 1995, Eareckson AS was converted to contractor operations and maintenance, providing all support on the island.
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.

Facts about EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL):

• In addition to being known as "EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg", other names for BSL include "Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse", "Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen" and "BSL, MLH".
• The closest airport to EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) is EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BSL.
• Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss European Airlines headquartered is on the grounds at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg in the Swiss section of the airport.
• Because of EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg's relatively low elevation of 885 feet, planes can take off or land at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg 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.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg handled 5,880,771 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (meaning EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,113 miles (19,493 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) has 2 runways.
• Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport.