Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Medina, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), Medina, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,484 miles (or 10,436 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz 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 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 strategic importance of Elmendorf AFB was graphically realized during the spring of 1980 when the 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed eight of its F-4Es to Korea to participate in exercise Team Spirit.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• On 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• Air defense forces reached their zenith in 1957 with almost 200 fighter aircraft assigned to six fighter interceptor squadrons located at Elmendorf AFB and Ladd AFB.
• 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.

Facts about Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED):

• The furthest airport from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (meaning Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) has 2 runways.
• It is the fourth busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 1,592,000 passengers in 2004, including 378,715 Hajj charter passengers.
• The closest airport to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Yanbu International Airport (YNB), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) WSW of MED.
• As with other regional airports in Saudi Arabia, it is modestly equipped with a simple, single-story terminal and a small parking apron.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport handled 1,592,000 passengers last year.