Nonstop flight route between Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Agana, Guam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tureira Airport (ZTA), Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,707 miles (or 9,185 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 Tureira Airport and Andersen Air Force Base, 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 Tureira Airport and Andersen Air Force Base. 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 Tureira Airport (ZTA):

• From 1966 to 1999, Tureia hosted an outpost of the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique, the French authority supervising nuclear tests on the nearby atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, which lie about 70 miles/115 kilometres south of Tureia.
• The closest airport to Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 104 miles (167 kilometers) N of ZTA.
• The furthest airport from Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), which is nearly antipodal to Tureira Airport (meaning Tureira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Al-Baha Domestic Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
• Tureia atoll is 15 km long and has a maximum width of 8 km.
• The village of Hakamaru, population 261, is the only settlement on Tureia, at the northern tip of the atoll.
• Because of Tureira Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Tureira 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.

Facts about Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• Three days after North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, the 19th Bomb Group deployed B-29s to Andersen to begin bombing targets throughout South Korea.
• Andersen AFB was established in 1944 as North Field and is named for Brigadier General James Roy Andersen.
• However, the FEAF Bomber Command was inactivated in 1954 and its three B-29 wings returned stateside and replaced with B-47s.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• With the start of Operation Arc Light in June 1965, B-52s and KC-135s began regular bombing missions over Vietnam, and continued in that capacity until 1973, with a break between August 1970 and early 1972.
• The 19th Bombardment Wing was formed at North AFB in 1948 from the resources of the former North Guam Air Force Base Command.