Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Galway, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Galway Airport (GWY), Galway, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,988 miles (or 6,417 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 Galway 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 Galway 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):

• On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at 26-Mile Airfield with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.
• In July 1960, the Strategic Air Command stationed the 4157th Combat Support Group at Eielson.
• The 375th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, from the 308th Bombardment Group at Tinker AFB Oklahoma, arrived at Eielson on 5 March 1949.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• 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.
• The host unit at Eielson is the 354th Fighter Wing assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force.
• 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.
• The base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field.

Facts about Galway Airport (GWY):

• The furthest airport from Galway Airport (GWY) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The airport is located 6 kilometres by road from Galway city centre.
• An additional "Development Fee" of €10 is charged to all departing passengers aged 12 years and over.
• In February 2012, workers at the airport staged a sit-in in protest at the risk that their redundancy payments might not materialise after the airport's bankers had seized its working capital.
• In addition to being known as "Galway Airport", another name for GWY is "Aerphort na Gaillimhe".
• On 12 October 2011 Aer Arann announced that it was to suspend its services from Galway for the winter season, commencing on 1 November.
• Since 2008 numbers and routes have dropped considerably with only Aer Arann routes to Luton, Lorient, Manchester and Edinburgh remaining.
• Galway Airport (GWY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Galway Airport (GWY) is Connemara Airport (NNR), which is located 22 miles (36 kilometers) WSW of GWY.
• Because of Galway Airport's relatively low elevation of 81 feet, planes can take off or land at Galway 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.