Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and León, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and León Airport (LEN), León, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,986 miles (or 8,024 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 León 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and León 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• 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.
• That importance was further recognized when the F-15E Strike Eagle equipped 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron was reassigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base from Clark Air Base in the Philippines in May 1991.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• On 16 November 2010, a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor took off for a training mission.
• Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States military facility in Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.
• 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 1980s witnessed a period of growth and modernization of Elmendorf AFB.

Facts about León Airport (LEN):

• The closest airport to León Airport (LEN) is Asturias Airport (OVD), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) NNW of LEN.
• León Airport (LEN) has 2 runways.
• During the Spanish Civil War, the Leon aerodrome was the headquarters of numerous airborne units and at the end of the conflict it was listed as class A.
• In addition to being known as "León Airport", another name for LEN is "Aeropuerto de León".
• The furthest airport from León Airport (LEN) is Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), which is nearly antipodal to León Airport (meaning León Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kaikoura Aerodrome), and is located 12,397 miles (19,952 kilometers) away in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
• In 1994 the first stage of Leon's civil airport project was drawn up and a runway, a link road and an aircraft parking area were built and inaugurated in 1995.
• León Airport handled 30,890 passengers last year.
• The aerodrome was located one kilometre north of the village of Virgen del Camino and seven kilometres south of the city of Leon, an area of hard flat land dedicated to pasture, and its navigation aids comprised a marking in the middle of the airfield and a windsock.