Nonstop flight route between Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Shemya, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from VFA to SYA:
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- About this route
- VFA Airport Information
- SYA Airport Information
- Facts about VFA
- Facts about SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to VFA
- List of Nearest Airports to VFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from VFA
- List of Furthest Airports from VFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SYA
- List of Nearest Airports to SYA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SYA
- List of Furthest Airports from SYA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Victoria Falls Airport (VFA), Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,498 miles (or 15,286 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 Victoria Falls 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 Victoria Falls 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VFA / FVFA |
Airport Name: | Victoria Falls Airport |
Location: | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 18°5'45"S by 25°50'20"E |
Area Served: | Victoria Falls |
Operator/Owner: | Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe |
Airport Type: | Civil |
Elevation: | 3490 feet (1,064 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VFA |
More Information: | VFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SYA / PASY |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shemya, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°42'43"N by 174°6'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 97 feet (30 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SYA |
More Information: | SYA Maps & Info |
Facts about Victoria Falls Airport (VFA):
- The closest airport to Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) is Livingstone Airport (LVI), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) N of VFA.
- The furthest airport from Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Victoria Falls Airport (meaning Victoria Falls Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,310 miles (19,812 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):
- On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
- 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.
- Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
- It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
- 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.
- The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
- 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 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.
- Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands near the larger island of Attu, and is located approximately 1500 miles southwest of Anchorage.