Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Emmen, Lucerne, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), Emmen, Lucerne, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,852 miles (or 7,809 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and Emmen Swiss Air 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and Emmen Swiss Air 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 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 1980s witnessed a period of growth and modernization of Elmendorf AFB.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• 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".
• 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 adjacent facilities were officially combined by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

Facts about Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML):

• In addition to being known as "Emmen Swiss Air Base", another name for EML is "Flugplatzkommando Emmen".
• The closest airport to Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML) is Zurich Airport (ZRH), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NNE of EML.
• The furthest airport from Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Emmen Swiss Air Base (meaning Emmen Swiss Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,113 miles (19,495 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.