Nonstop flight route between Alicante, Spain and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC), Alicante, Spain and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,541 miles (or 8,918 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 Alicante-Elche Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 Alicante-Elche Airport and Gray Army Airfield. 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 Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC):

• Because of Alicante-Elche Airport's relatively low elevation of 141 feet, planes can take off or land at Alicante-Elche 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 Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) is Murcia–San Javier Airport (MJV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) SSW of ALC.
• In 2011, the new terminal was opened at the airport increasing the annual airport capacity to 20 million passengers per year.
• Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Terminal 2 had 14 check-in desks numbered 51 - 64, 6 gates, and two baggage reclaim carousels.
• In addition to being known as "Alicante-Elche Airport", other names for ALC include "Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche" and "Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx".
• The furthest airport from Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) is Gisborne Airport (GIS), which is nearly antipodal to Alicante-Elche Airport (meaning Alicante-Elche Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gisborne Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,881 kilometers) away in Gisborne, New Zealand.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Air Transport Command.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.