Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Ankara, Turkey:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Esenboğa International Airport (ESB), Ankara, Turkey would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,614 miles (or 9,034 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 Esenboğa International 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 Esenboğa International 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):

• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• 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.
• A second attack by B-24 Liberators was launched from Alexai Point and Shemya on 18 July.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands near the larger island of Attu, and is located approximately 1500 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Facts about Esenboğa International Airport (ESB):

• The furthest airport from Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,188 miles (18,005 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• Esenboğa International Airport handled 10,900,000 passengers last year.
• The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa, which literally means "Windflowing Bull" or "Serene Bull", the modernized form of Isen Buga, the name of a Turkic warlord in the army of Timur who settled his troops here during the Battle of Ankara in 1402.
• In addition to being known as "Esenboğa International Airport", another name for ESB is "Esenboğa Uluslararası Havalimanı".
• The closest airport to Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) is Kastamonu Airport (KFS), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) NNE of ESB.
• Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) has 2 runways.
• Esenboga Airport Domestic and International Terminal constructed under "Build-Operate-Transfer" model has been completed within a record time.
• In 2009, ESB served 6,085,126 passengers, 4,987,983 of which were domestic passengers.