Nonstop flight route between Asau, Samoa and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asau Airport (AAU), Asau, Samoa and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,565 miles (or 8,955 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 Asau Airport and Eielson 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 Asau Airport and Eielson 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 Asau Airport (AAU):

• Only Twin Otter and Britten-Norman Islander planes can land and take off this small airport, generally because the runway and tarmac cannot handle any other larger and heavier aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Asau Airport (AAU) is Maradi Airport (MFQ), which is nearly antipodal to Asau Airport (meaning Asau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maradi Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,987 kilometers) away in Maradi, Niger.
• This airport is open daily for 12 hours a day.
• This is a domestic airport which only serves flights in and out of Maota Airport, the main airstrip on Savai'i at the east end of the island, and Faleolo International Airport on the main island Upolu.
• The closest airport to Asau Airport (AAU) is Maota (Salelologa) Airport (MXS), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) ESE of AAU.
• There is only one rigid and roughly surfaced runway.
• The small tarmac can only fit two Twin Otter planes, with an aircraft parking shed located near the tarmac.
• In 2003, a cyclone swept past Samoa and most of the South Pacific.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• The 375th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, from the 308th Bombardment Group at Tinker AFB Oklahoma, arrived at Eielson on 5 March 1949.
• The host unit at Eielson is the 354th Fighter Wing assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force.
• Another change involved the 3rd Fighter Training Squadron, which was replaced by the 353rd Fighter Squadron.
• On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at 26-Mile Airfield with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• The base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field.
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.