Nonstop flight route between Yamagata, Japan and Agana, Guam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shonai Airport (SYO), Yamagata, Japan and Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,771 miles (or 2,851 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 Shonai Airport and Andersen Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Shonai Airport (SYO):

• Shonai Airport (SYO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In December 2012, an ANA flight landing from Tokyo overran the runway at Shonai.
• The airport opened in 1991 after lobbying efforts by local chambers of commerce, as the area was highly isolated from the major cities of Tokyo and Osaka, requiring half a day of travel to reach either.
• Seiko Epson has also used the airport for weekly employee charter flights to and from Matsumoto since 1997.
• The furthest airport from Shonai Airport (SYO) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,620 miles (18,701 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Shonai Airport (SYO) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SE of SYO.
• In addition to being known as "Shonai Airport", other names for SYO include "庄内空港" and "Shonai Kūkō".
• Because of Shonai Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Shonai 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.

Facts about Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• Andersen saw an end to its role in rotational duties when the B-47 was phased out and replaced by the B-52 Stratofortress.
• The closest airport to Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Guam International Airport (GUM), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) SW of UAM.
• The furthest airport from Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Andersen Air Force Base (meaning Andersen Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• In October 1949, the 19th Wing again became subordinated to the 20th Air Force and the remaining units in the Marianas and Bonin Islands were transferred to other organizations.
• B-29 Superfortress missions from North Field were attacks against strategic targets in Japan, initially operating in daylight and at high altitude to bomb factories, refineries, and other objectives.
• Andersen Air Force Base was established on 3 December 1944 and is named for Brigadier General James Roy Andersen.
• In 1951, the Strategic Air Command chose several overseas bases to support rotational unit deployments of its bombers from stateside bases, starting with B-29 Superfortress units and later including Convair B-36, B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress bombers, and KB-29 refueling tankers.
• However, the FEAF Bomber Command was inactivated in 1954 and its three B-29 wings returned stateside and replaced with B-47s.
• The Japanese managed to contain the marines on two beachheads, but their counter-attack failed.
• Andersen AFB was established in 1944 as North Field and is named for Brigadier General James Roy Andersen.
• The base returned to routine operations by the late 1970s, but continued to serve as one of SAC's strategic locations.