Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Waterford, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Waterford Airport (WAT), Waterford, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,335 miles (or 6,976 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 Waterford 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 Waterford 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• Construction on Elmendorf Field began on 8 June 1940, as a major and permanent military airfield near Anchorage.
• 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 Waterford Airport (WAT):

• The nearest bus and coach station is 10km away in Waterford from where Bus Éireann provides services to Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Rosslare Europort, Wexford, Clonmel and Tramore.
• Passengers numbers through Waterford Airport in 2009 fall due to routes being suspended to Bordeaux, Faro, Malaga and Amsterdam and service reductions on routes to Birmingham, London Luton and Manchester.
• On 14 March 2012, Aer Arann transferred all of its Waterford routes into the Aer Lingus Regional brand effective from 25 March 2012.
• Airport development was initiated by Waterford Corporation with support from the Government of Ireland and the private sector in 1979–1980.
• On 13 March 2007 a €27.5 million upgrade of Waterford Airport was announced.
• The closest airport to Waterford Airport (WAT) is Kilkenny Airport (KKY), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) NNW of WAT.
• The furthest airport from Waterford Airport (WAT) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Waterford Airport (meaning Waterford Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,013 miles (19,333 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Between 1987 and 1988 Aer Lingus operated services to Dublin.
• In addition to being known as "Waterford Airport", another name for WAT is "Aerfort Phort Láirge".
• Because of Waterford Airport's relatively low elevation of 119 feet, planes can take off or land at Waterford 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.
• Waterford Airport handled 8,000 passengers last year.