Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Jieyang / Shantou / Chaozhou, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA), Jieyang / Shantou / Chaozhou, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,594 miles (or 5,784 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 Jieyang Chaoshan 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 Jieyang Chaoshan 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 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA):

• Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport handled 2,686,007 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA) is Meixian Airport (MXZ), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) NNW of SWA.
• Jieyang Chaoshan Airport is among the 50 busiest passenger airports in China.
• Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA) is Orán Airport (ORA), which is nearly antipodal to Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (meaning Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Orán Airport), and is located 12,377 miles (19,919 kilometers) away in Orán, Salta Province, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport", other names for SWA include "揭阳潮汕机场" and "Jiēyáng Cháoshàn Jīchǎng".