Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Shimojishima, Japan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AYH to SHI:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- AYH Airport Information
- SHI Airport Information
- Facts about AYH
- Facts about SHI
- Map of Nearest Airports to AYH
- List of Nearest Airports to AYH
- Map of Furthest Airports from AYH
- List of Furthest Airports from AYH
- Map of Nearest Airports to SHI
- List of Nearest Airports to SHI
- Map of Furthest Airports from SHI
- List of Furthest Airports from SHI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Shimojishima Airport (SHI), Shimojishima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,172 miles (or 9,933 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Shimojishima 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Shimojishima Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AYH / EGWZ |
Airport Name: | RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 |
Location: | Alconbury, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°21'47"N by 0°13'22"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from AYH |
More Information: | AYH Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SHI / RORS |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shimojishima, Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 24°49'36"N by 125°8'40"E |
Operator/Owner: | Okinawa Prefecture |
Airport Type: | Public / Dual-use |
Elevation: | 25 feet (8 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SHI |
More Information: | SHI Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):
- The construction attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe as the flying field of RAF Alconbury was attacked by German bombers on 16 September 1940, although no serious damage was done.
- During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,
- The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
- The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
- Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
- The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Also in 1942, to bring the station up to Class A airfield standards, the runways were extended to 2,000 yards, and 1,400 yards, with 26 additional hardstands along with the taxiways altered.
Facts about Shimojishima Airport (SHI):
- In addition to being known as "Shimojishima Airport", other names for SHI include "下地島空港" and "Shimojishima Kūkō".
- As of 2005, the airport was in use as a training facility for Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.
- The airport, also known as Shimoji Airport, was originally built as a 'training airport' for commercial pilots, with a secondary role as a alternative landing site for intercontinental supersonic airliners.
- Because of Shimojishima Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Shimojishima 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 2010, there were renewed protests against proposals to turn Shimoji Airport into a permanent USMC post.
- The furthest airport from Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Shimojishima Airport (meaning Shimojishima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,945 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
- The closest airport to Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Miyako Airport (MMY), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ESE of SHI.
- Shimojishima Airport (SHI) currently has only 1 runway.