Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Matsuyama Airport (MYJ), Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,410 miles (or 3,879 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 relatively short distance between Eareckson Air Station and Matsuyama Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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 closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• 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.
• The base host squadron was re-designated the 5073rd Air Base Squadron on October 1962, and upgraded to a group on 15 October 1974 in recognition of the number and complexities of the tenant units it supported.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Matsuyama Airport (MYJ):

• Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Matsuyama Airport (meaning Matsuyama Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,130 miles (19,522 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Matsuyama Airport", other names for MYJ include "松山空港" and "Matsuyama kūkō".
• Because of Matsuyama Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Matsuyama Airport 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 2013, the government of Ehime Prefecture and local business organizations announced that they would begin subsidizing the airport's international routes to Shanghai and Seoul, which had seen load factors of less than 50% in June 2013.
• The closest airport to Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) is Hiroshima Airport (HIJ), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) NNE of MYJ.
• The airport opened as an Imperial Japanese Navy airfield in 1941, and became a state-administered civil airport in 1958.
• An office park named "Biz Port" opened near the airport in 2003 to attract technology businesses, but is scheduled to close in March 2015.