Nonstop flight route between Agana, Guam and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,473 miles (or 2,371 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 Andersen Air Force Base and Buka Island Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• Andersen is one of four bomber forward operating locations in the US Air Force.
• 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 Strategic Air Command continued its 90-day unit rotational training program, and began to take over control over the base from the FEAF.
• In 1983, the 43rd completed its transition from the B-52D to the B-52G, and thus became one of only two SAC bomber wings equipped with the Harpoon anti-ship missile.
• 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.
• The 3rd Air Division was activated on 18 June in its place, its object being control of all SAC units in the Far East.
• After the war, B-29s from North Field dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners and participated in several show-of-force missions over Japan.
• The 19th Bombardment Wing was formed at North AFB in 1948 from the resources of the former North Guam Air Force Base Command.
• Additionally, the 41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the Pacific Air Forces, along with its F-86s, was stationed at Andersen from August 1956 until it was inactivated in March 1960.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• Today the airport is the primary air portal into Bougainville, and even 60 years after the war, wreckage from the military use of the airfield by the Japanese and Americans is easily found in the area.
• There is one navigational aid, the Buka NDB situated on nearby Sohano Island.
• The origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.
• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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 Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.