Nonstop flight route between Aalesund, Norway and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES), Aalesund, Norway and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,348 miles (or 6,998 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra and McChord Field/McChord AFB, 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra and McChord Field/McChord AFB. 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES):

• In addition to being known as "Ålesund Airport, Vigra", another name for AES is "Ålesund lufthavn, Vigra".
• The furthest airport from Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,147 miles (17,940 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Scheduled services are offered by Norwegian, Scandinavian Airlines, KLM, airBaltic and WizzAir.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was opened in 1958, as the first in Møre og Romsdal.
• Because of Ålesund Airport, Vigra's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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.
• Scandinavian Airlines to Oslo-Fornebu, London Gatwick
• The closest airport to Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) S of AES.
• Before 1998, the airport was served by one airline, Braathens SAFE, at times with regional routes being by Norwegian Air Shuttle on behalf of Braathens.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra handled 1,077,209 passengers last year.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• The McChord Air Force Base facility was consolidated with the United States Army Fort Lewis on 1 February 2010 to become part of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord complex.
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• Today, the successor organization to the 25th AD, the Western Air Defense Sector, is a major tenant organization at McChord, being one of two air defense sectors responsible for the security and integrity of continental United States air space.
• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.