Nonstop flight route between Benin City, Nigeria and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Benin Airport (BNI), Benin City, Nigeria and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,584 miles (or 12,206 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 Benin 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 Benin 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 Benin Airport (BNI):

• Because of Benin Airport's relatively low elevation of 258 feet, planes can take off or land at Benin 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.
• Benin Airport (BNI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Benin Airport (BNI) is Canton Island Airport (CIS), which is nearly antipodal to Benin Airport (meaning Benin Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Canton Island Airport), and is located 12,129 miles (19,520 kilometers) away in Canton Island, Kiribati.
• Benin Airport handled 308,741 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Benin Airport (BNI) is Akure Airport (AKR), which is located 67 miles (109 kilometers) NNW of BNI.

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.
• 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.
• Following World War II, Elmendorf assumed an increasing role in the defense of North America as the uncertain wartime relations between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated into the Cold War.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• The late 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s brought about a gradual, but significant decline in air defense forces in Alaska due to mission changes and the demands of the Vietnam War.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.