Nonstop flight route between Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Iqaluit Airport (YFB), Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,717 miles (or 5,982 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 Iqaluit 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 Iqaluit 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 Iqaluit Airport (YFB):

• Iqaluit Airport was originally founded as Frobisher Bay Air Base in 1942.
• The furthest airport from Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 10,428 miles (16,782 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Iqaluit Airport's relatively low elevation of 110 feet, planes can take off or land at Iqaluit 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.
• Through the 1960s, Nordair was the main airline serving Frobisher Bay from Montreal, 1,100 nautical miles to the south.
• With the introduction of the intercontinental Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, fewer airlines stopped at Iqaluit.
• The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, conducted cold weather testing from Iqaluit Airport during February 2006 - its first North American visit.
• Iqaluit Airport (YFB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Kimmirut Airport (YLC), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) SSW of YFB.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.