Nonstop flight route between Decatur, Illinois, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Decatur Airport (DEC), Decatur, Illinois, United States and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,921 miles (or 4,701 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 Decatur Airport and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, 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 Decatur Airport and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. 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 Decatur Airport (DEC):

• Decatur Airport (DEC) has 3 runways.
• Because of Decatur Airport's relatively low elevation of 682 feet, planes can take off or land at Decatur 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 furthest airport from Decatur Airport (DEC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,056 miles (17,793 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Decatur Airport covers 2,100 acres at an elevation of 682 feet.
• The Illinois Army National Guard has an Army Aviation Support Facility at the airport.
• The closest airport to Decatur Airport (DEC) is University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) ENE of DEC.

Facts about Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC):

• A shuttle bus runs approximately every 15 minutes between the North and South terminals and the employee and long-term parking lots.
• Anchorage was a common stopover for passengers flying to East Asia until the 1980s because Chinese and Soviet airspace were off-limits and because the first generation of jets and widebody airliners did not have the range to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean.
• There is a rail station for the Alaska Railroad.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) has 3 runways.
• FedEx Express and UPS Airlines operate major hubs at Anchorage International for cargo heading to and from the Far East.NWA Cargo used to operate a major hub at the airport until December 28, 2009 when it closed all operations for Northwest Cargo at all airports.
• The furthest airport from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,548 miles (16,975 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The FAA has forecast total operations for the year 2011 to be 261,375.
• The closest airport to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of ANC.
• In the 1990s, Alaska Airlines and Aeroflot operated service from Anchorage to several destinations in the Russian Far East, including Khabarovsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport handled 4,976,557 passengers last year.
• Because of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport's relatively low elevation of 152 feet, planes can take off or land at Ted Stevens Anchorage International 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.