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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Osaka International Airport (OSA), Osaka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,253 miles (or 3,626 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 Osaka International 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):

• 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.
• 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 aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Osaka International Airport (OSA):

• In May 1968, a group of local citizens decided to sue the government for damages related to noise pollution from Itami Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Osaka International Airport", other names for OSA include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港", "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō", "ITM" and "RJOO".
• The policy of the Japanese government has been to limit operations at Itami in order to spur development at Kansai and Kobe.
• In its heyday Itami was served by a variety of major international carriers, including Pan Am, British Airways, Air India, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air.
• While Japan's economy was growing rapidly, the area around Itami Airport became an increasingly dense residential area for commuters to Osaka.
• Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka International 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.
• New Kansai International Airport Corporation, which owns both Itami Airport and Kansai Airport, plans to sell operating concessions for both airports during fiscal year 2014 in order to repay Kansai Airport's outstanding debt burden of 1.2 trillion yen.
• The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (OSA) is Osaka International Airport (ITM), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of OSA.
• The furthest airport from Osaka International Airport (OSA) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Osaka International Airport (OSA) has 2 runways.