Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Biak, Indonesia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SYA to BIK:
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- About this route
- SYA Airport Information
- BIK Airport Information
- Facts about SYA
- Facts about BIK
- Map of Nearest Airports to SYA
- List of Nearest Airports to SYA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SYA
- List of Furthest Airports from SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIK
- List of Nearest Airports to BIK
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIK
- List of Furthest Airports from BIK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,323 miles (or 6,957 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 Eareckson Air Station and Frans Kaisiepo 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 Eareckson Air Station and Frans Kaisiepo Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SYA / PASY |
Airport Names: |
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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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIK / WABB |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Biak, Indonesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°11'23"S by 136°6'26"E |
Operator/Owner: | PT Angkasa Pura I |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 46 feet (14 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BIK |
More Information: | BIK Maps & Info |
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.
- Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and " ".
- 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 spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
- 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 (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
Facts about Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):
- Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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.
- The closest airport to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.
- Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
- As World War II started in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan started occupying Irian Jaya in 1942.
- In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".
- The furthest airport from Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
- Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese, of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944.
- Sorido Airfield has been disused since 1962 and is located to the northwest of Mokmer, and is clearly visible on aerial photography.
- In 1990,the Airport's management and operation was handed over to Angkasa Pura I.
- The government of Netherlands soon took over the airfield.
- Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.