Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Ishigaki Airport (ISG), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,553 miles (or 10,546 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Ishigaki 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Ishigaki 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• 9th Space Operations Squadron
• The host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing.
• 21st Space Operations Squadron
• The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• With the establishment of a separate Air Force in September 1947, Vandenberg became its first vice chief of staff under General Carl Spaatz, and succeeded him on 30 April 1948.
• 4th Space Launch Squadron
• From August 1950 to February 1953, Camp Cooke served as a training installation for units slated for combat in Korea, and as a summer training base for many other reserve units.

Facts about Ishigaki Airport (ISG):

• Because of Ishigaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 86 feet, planes can take off or land at Ishigaki 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 "Ishigaki Airport", other names for ISG include "石垣空港" and "Ishigaki Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Hateruma Airport (HTR), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SW of ISG.
• The furthest airport from Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Ishigaki Airport (meaning Ishigaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• The airport served about 1.8 million passengers a year, making it the second busiest third-class airport in Japan, behind Kobe Airport, and traffic grew steadily as the Yaeyama Islands become a popular tourist destination.
• The new airport has a 2,000 m runway, expandable to 2,500 m.
• Ishigaki Airport (ISG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Flight 611 of Southwest Air Lines is the only significant aircraft accident on record at Ishigaki Airport.