Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Charleston, West Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Yeager Airport (CRW), Charleston, West Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,148 miles (or 5,066 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 Eielson Air Force Base and Yeager 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 Eielson Air Force Base and Yeager 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 Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• The 375th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, from the 308th Bombardment Group at Tinker AFB Oklahoma, arrived at Eielson on 5 March 1949.
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• A year later, however, Eielson moved from under the shadow of Ladd Field when the Alaskan Air Command assumed organizational control.
• Taken off deployment status in 2007 as a result of BRAC 2005, today the primary mission of the base is to support Red Flag-Alaska, a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• In July 1960, the Strategic Air Command stationed the 4157th Combat Support Group at Eielson.
• Headquarters USAF General Order 2, dated 13 January 1948, redesignated Mile 26 as Eielson AFB.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.

Facts about Yeager Airport (CRW):

• The furthest airport from Yeager Airport (CRW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,458 miles (18,440 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On June 25, 2009 AirTran Airways began service from Charleston to Orlando.
• The closest airport to Yeager Airport (CRW) is Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) SSE of CRW.
• Yeager Airport covers 767 acres at an elevation of 981 feet above mean sea level.
• On March 3, 2011, Spirit Airlines began flights to Fort Lauderdale and on May 5, 2011, Spirit started seasonal flights between Charleston and Myrtle Beach.
• Yeager Airport (CRW) has 2 runways.
• Federal Aviation Administration records show 264,818 passenger enplanements in calendar year 2010, an increase of 11.2% from the 238,190 enplanements in 2009.
• During World War II Charleston's airport, Wertz Field, closed when the airport's approaches were blocked by the federal government building a synthetic rubber plant next to the airport.
• Because of Yeager Airport's relatively low elevation of 981 feet, planes can take off or land at Yeager 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.
• On January 19, 2010 PSA Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 N246PS on flight 2495 to Charlotte, North Carolina on behalf of US Airways with 30 passengers and 3 crew, overran the runway following a rejected take-off at 16:13 local time.