Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Hamburg, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), Hamburg, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,040 miles (or 8,111 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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):

• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW):

• Because of Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Hamburg Finkenwerder 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.
• The closest airport to Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Hamburg Airport (HAM), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NE of XFW.
• Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport", another name for XFW is "Flugplatz Hamburg-Finkenwerder".
• The furthest airport from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,707 miles (18,840 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Beginning in April 2006, the runway was extended from 2,684 m to 3,183 m at the southern end, in order to accommodate the planned freight version of the Airbus 380.
• The Hamburg factory is also home to Airbus’ A380 major component assembly hall, which houses the structural assembly and the fitting-with equipment of the forward and complete rear fuselage sections.
• There are no public flights to and from the airport.