Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Mulhouse, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH), Mulhouse, France 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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

• The furthest airport from EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH) 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.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg handled 5,880,771 passengers last year.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg is an international airport 6 km northwest of Basel, 22 km southeast of Mulhouse, and 70 km south of Freiburg im Breisgau.
• 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.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH) is EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of MLH.
• In addition to being known as "EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg", other names for MLH include "Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse", "Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen" and "BSL, MLH".
• Crossair was based at Basel and was its largest airline.
• Between autumn 1951 and spring 1953, the east–west runway was extended to 1,600 metres and the "Zollfreistrasse" was constructed, allowing access from Basel to the departure terminal without passing through French border controls.
• 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.