Nonstop flight route between Bethel, Alaska, United States and Glendale, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bethel Airport (BET), Bethel, Alaska, United States and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), Glendale, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,881 miles (or 4,637 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 Bethel Airport and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field, 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 Bethel Airport and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field. 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 Bethel Airport (BET):

• The closest airport to Bethel Airport (BET) is Bethel Seaplane Base (JBT), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) E of BET.
• The furthest airport from Bethel Airport (BET) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,584 miles (17,034 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Bethel Airport is a state owned, public use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Bethel, a city in the Bethel Census Area of the U.S.
• Bethel Airport (BET) has 3 runways.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 140,291 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 134,848 enplanements in 2009, and 144,353 in 2010.
• Because of Bethel Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Bethel 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.
• Construction began September 21, 1941, and the airfield was activated July 4, 1942.
• In addition to being known as "Bethel Airport", other names for BET include "(former Bethel Air Base)" and "(former Todd Army Airfield)".

Facts about Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF):

• Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command, training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
• Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I in the skies over France.
• In addition to being known as "Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field", another name for LUF is "Luke AFB".
• By 7 February 1944, pilots at Luke had achieved a million hours of flying time.
• The base was under the control of the 37th Flying Training Wing, Western Flying Training Command, AAF Flying Training Command.
• The closest airport to Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) S of LUF.
• The furthest airport from Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,426 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to flying and maintaining the F-16, Luke airmen also deploy to support on-going operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and to combatant commanders in other locations around the world.
• In 1955, the Air Force selected the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak as their second aircraft.