Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort (MZR), Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,356 miles (or 8,619 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 Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort, 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 Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort. 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 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 first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.

Facts about Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort (MZR):

• The airport was heavily used in the 1980s by the Soviet forces from which it launched daily flight missions to hit targets in the Mujahideen controlled territories of the southeast.
• The furthest airport from Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort (MZR) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,749 miles (18,908 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort (MZR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort (MZR) is Termez Airport (TMJ), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) N of MZR.
• Originally built by engineers from the Soviet Union in the 1950s, the airport serves the Afghan population north of the country.
• Germany took command of the International Security Assistance Force 's Regional Area North at the end of March 2006.
• In addition to being known as "Mazar-e Sharif International Airpوort", another name for MZR is "Mazar-e-Sharif Airport (Mazar-e-Sharif)".