Nonstop flight route between Kigoma, Tanzania and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kigoma Airport (TKQ), Kigoma, Tanzania and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,566 miles (or 13,785 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 Kigoma Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Kigoma Airport and Eareckson Air Station. 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 Kigoma Airport (TKQ):

• Kigoma Airport handled 37,652 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Kigoma Airport", another name for TKQ is "Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kigoma  (Swahili)".
• The closest airport to Kigoma Airport (TKQ) is Kalemie Airport (FMI), which is located 74 miles (120 kilometers) SSW of TKQ.
• Kigoma Airport (TKQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kigoma Airport (TKQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,913 miles (19,172 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• 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.