Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Kansas City, Missouri, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Kansas City, Missouri, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,172 miles (or 6,714 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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):

• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• 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.
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• Eareckson Air Station is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.

Facts about Kansas City International Airport (MCI):

• TWA's Kansas City Overhaul Base at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s was Kansas City's largest employer, with 6,000 employees.
• Kansas City International Airport handled 10,148,524 passengers last year.
• Kansas City Industrial Airport was built after the Great Flood of 1951 destroyed the facilities of both of Kansas City's hometown airlines Mid-Continent Airlines and TWA at Fairfax Airport across the Missouri River from the city's main Kansas City Municipal Airport.
• As a result, passenger services were nonexistent downstream of the security checkpoint in the gate area.
• In 1954 TWA signed an agreement to move its overhaul base to the airport.
• TWA's vision for the future of flight which had been pioneered by the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport in New York City proved obsolete almost from the start.
• The furthest airport from Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,750 miles (17,301 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has 3 runways.
• In 2009 the airport was reported as having the highest number of wildlife strikes of any airport in the US, based on take-offs and landings.
• In March 2010 the airport was announced as one of the first in the US to have full-body scanners with the first one used at Southwest Airlines beginning in the summer of 2010.
• The closest airport to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Sherman Army AirfieldSherman Air Force Base (FLV), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MCI.