Nonstop flight route between Agana, Guam and Manihi, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam and Manihi Airport (XMH), Manihi, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,100 miles (or 8,208 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 Andersen Air Force Base and Manihi 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 Andersen Air Force Base and Manihi 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 Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• The first host unit at North Field was the 314th Bombardment Wing, XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force.
• Operation Linebacker II continued the mission of Operation Arc Light, and was most notable for its 11-day bombing campaign between 18 and 29 December 1972, in which more than 150 B-52 bombers flew 729 sorties in 11 days.
• 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 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.
• Flying out of Guam, S/Sgt Henry E Erwin of the 29th Bombardment Group was awarded the Medal of Honor for action that saved his B-29 during a mission over Koriyama, Japan, on 12 April 1945.
• Andersen is one of four bomber forward operating locations in the US Air Force.
• At Andersen, the wing assumed responsibility for administering two active and one semi-active bases plus an assortment of communication, weather, radar, rescue and other facilities and units including the Marianas Air Material Area, a wing size unit.
• 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.

Facts about Manihi Airport (XMH):

• Manihi Airport (XMH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Manihi Airport (XMH) is Khartoum International Airport (KRT), which is nearly antipodal to Manihi Airport (meaning Manihi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Khartoum International Airport), and is located 12,315 miles (19,819 kilometers) away in Khartoum, Sudan.
• The closest airport to Manihi Airport (XMH) is Ahe Airport (AHE), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) W of XMH.
• Because of Manihi Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Manihi 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.
• In addition to being known as "Manihi Airport", another name for XMH is "Aérodrome de Manihi".