Nonstop flight route between Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain and Shemya, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from LPA to SYA:
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- About this route
- LPA Airport Information
- SYA Airport Information
- Facts about LPA
- Facts about SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to LPA
- List of Nearest Airports to LPA
- Map of Furthest Airports from LPA
- List of Furthest Airports from LPA
- 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 Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,835 miles (or 11,000 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 Gran Canaria 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 Gran Canaria 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: | LPA / GCLP |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°55'54"N by 15°23'12"W |
Area Served: | Gran Canaria |
Operator/Owner: | Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 78 feet (24 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from LPA |
More Information: | LPA 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 Gran Canaria Airport (LPA):
- The Canary Islands Air Command is based in the city of Las Palmas.
- The closest airport to Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is Tenerife North Airport (TFN), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) WNW of LPA.
- Gran Canaria Airport handled 9,770,253 passengers last year.
- Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) has 2 runways.
- In 1919, Frenchman Pierre George Latécoère was granted clearance from the French & Spanish governments to establish an airline route between Toulouse & Casablanca.
- In addition to being known as "Gran Canaria Airport", another name for LPA is "Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria".
- The airport has one terminal which opened in March 1973.
- In December 2010, low cost carrier Ryanair announced the opening of 3 new bases on the Canary Islands.
- The furthest airport from Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to Gran Canaria Airport (meaning Gran Canaria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,221 miles (19,667 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
- Because of Gran Canaria Airport's relatively low elevation of 78 feet, planes can take off or land at Gran Canaria 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 Eareckson Air Station (SYA):
- In August 1988, at least one Aries rocket was launched, relating to the Queen Match program, for anti-ballistic missile testing.
- In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and " ".
- 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.
- 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.
- The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
- Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service for the logistical support of Korea and Japan.
- 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.