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.
• On 10 July 1943, eight B-25 Mitchells from the 77th Bombardment Squadron left Adak AAF and refueled at Alexai Point AAF on Attu.
• 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 is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.
• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• In 1966 the Air Defense Command 9th Air Division assumed jurisdiction of the base.
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• 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 Kansas City International Airport (MCI):

• 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 airport was across US 71 from the Red Crown Tourist Court, where outlaws Bonnie and Clyde engaged in a 1933 shootout with law enforcement, which led to the death of Clyde's brother Buck Barrow and the capture of Buck's wife Blanche Barrow.
• Kansas City International Airport handled 10,148,524 passengers last year.
• MCI passenger terminals have a unique structure comprising three terminals in the shape of rings.
• 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.
• The airport has always been a civilian airport and has never had an Air National Guard unit assigned to it.
• Many design decisions were driven by TWA, which envisioned it would be its hub, with 747s and Supersonic Transports whisking people from America's heartland to all points on the globe.
• Kansas City already owned Grandview Airport south of the city with ample room for expansion, but the city chose to build a new airport north of the city away from the Missouri River following lobbying by Platte County native Jay B.
• 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.
• Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has 3 runways.