Nonstop flight route between Tegel / Berlin, Germany and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), Tegel / Berlin, Germany and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,079 miles (or 8,174 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 Berlin Tegel 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 Berlin Tegel 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 Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL):

• The area of today's airport originally was part of Jungfernheide forest, which served as a hunting ground for the Prussian nobility.
• Berlin Tegel Airport is the main international airport of Berlin, the federal capital of Germany, ahead of Berlin Schönefeld Airport.
• Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) has 2 runways.
• Plans for converting the area into allotment gardens were shelved due to the Berlin Blockade, which began on 24 June 1948.
• Initially, all British Airways services from Tegel – with the exception of the daily non-stop service to London Heathrow – continued to be operated by BAC One-Eleven 500s.
• Berlin Tegel Airport handled 19,591,849 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Berlin Tegel Airport", another name for TXL is "Flughafen Berlin-Tegel".
• From the start of the 1974–75 winter season, Pan Am began operating a series of short- and medium-haul week-end charter flights from Tegel under contract to a leading West German tour operator.
• Because of Berlin Tegel Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Berlin Tegel 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.
• British Dakota and Hastings aircraft carrying essential goods and raw materials began using Tegel on a regular basis from 17 November 1948.
• The furthest airport from Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,685 miles (18,805 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) is Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) SE of TXL.
• Following the move to Tegel, Air France initially used Lockheed Super Constellation piston equipment on all Berlin flights.
• In addition to operating a limited number of commercial flights from Tegel prior to its move from Tempelhof on 1 September 1975, Pan Am used it as a diversion airfield.

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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.