Nonstop flight route between Santa Marta, Colombia and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR), Santa Marta, Colombia and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,068 miles (or 8,155 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 Simón Bolívar International Airport and Elmendorf 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 Simón Bolívar International Airport and Elmendorf 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 Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR):

• The closest airport to Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR) is Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ), which is located 41 miles (65 kilometers) WSW of SMR.
• Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Simón Bolívar International Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Simón Bolívar International 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 furthest airport from Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR) is Christmas Island Airport (XCH), which is nearly antipodal to Simón Bolívar International Airport (meaning Simón Bolívar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christmas Island Airport), and is located 12,390 miles (19,940 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Simón Bolívar International Airport", another name for SMR is "Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar".

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The furthest airport from Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,542 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• On 22 September 1995, a Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne early warning and control aircraft with 22 USAF personnel and two Canadian air crew members crashed after ingesting a flock of Canada Geese, killing all on board.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• The Elmendorf AFB is a site of one of the now decommissioned FLR-9 Wullenweber-class antennas, a node of the now obsolete High Frequency SIGINT direction finding system.
• Air defense forces reached their zenith in 1957 with almost 200 fighter aircraft assigned to six fighter interceptor squadrons located at Elmendorf AFB and Ladd AFB.