Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Tamarindo, Costa Rica:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Tamarindo Airport (TNO), Tamarindo, Costa Rica would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,741 miles (or 7,630 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 Tamarindo 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 Tamarindo 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 installation hosts the headquarters for the United States Alaskan Command, 11th Air Force, U.S.
• 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.
• It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Command, Alaskan NORAD Region, Joint Task Force-Alaska, Eleventh Air Force, the 673d Air Base Wing, the 3rd Wing, the 176th Wing and other Tenant Units.
• 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 first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941.
• On 22 September 1995, a Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne early warning and control aircraft with 22 USAF personnel and two Canadian air crew members crashed after ingesting a flock of Canada Geese, killing all on board.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• 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 Tamarindo Airport (TNO):

• The closest airport to Tamarindo Airport (TNO) is Nosara Airport (NOB), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SSE of TNO.
• Tamarindo Airport (TNO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Tamarindo Airport (TNO) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Tamarindo Airport (meaning Tamarindo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,216 miles (19,659 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Because of Tamarindo Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Tamarindo 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.