Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,994 miles (or 8,036 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 Fairbanks International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Fairbanks International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Fairbanks International Airport (FAI):

• Pan Am eventually used Fairbanks as a stopover for transpacific service from New York and Seattle to Tokyo starting in September 1969.
• Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,289 miles (16,558 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The airport serves many cargo airlines as a convenient refueling stop for some aircraft on trans-polar routes.
• The closest airport to Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of FAI.
• Pan American World Airways had also served Fairbanks since 1932.
• Because of Fairbanks International Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Fairbanks International 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.
• The airport opened in 1951 and took over existing scheduled airline traffic to Fairbanks, which had previously used Ladd Air Force Base.Alaska Airlines used Fairbanks as its main hub in the 1950s, with service to Seattle and Portland as well as intrastate service to Anchorage, Nome and other destinations.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The initial completion deadline for the new terminal was 15 December 2004 to a total budget of 112.2 million euro.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The new tower is an extremely important facility for both ATC and the airport because it is related to the safety and security of flights, explained by the transport department.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• Total cost of the project was planned at 200 million euros.
• Lufthansa Technik Sofia was founded in late 2007 as a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and the Bulgarian Aviation Group.
• The infrastructure surrounding the building was expected to be completed in 2007.
• The new Sofia tower will be situated to the west of Terminal 2 and will be complementing the terminal building in architectural terms.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The airport was initially built in the late 1930s on a site 6.3 km by road then.