Nonstop flight route between Great Bend, Kansas, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD), Great Bend, Kansas, United States and Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,667 miles (or 4,293 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 Great Bend Municipal Airport and Merrill Field, 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 Great Bend Municipal Airport and Merrill Field. 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 Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD):

• Great Bend Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,887 acres at an elevation of 1,887 feet above mean sea level.
• The airport is the site of the first nationwide NHRA event, held in 1955.
• The furthest airport from Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,769 miles (17,331 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) has 2 runways.
• Great Bend Municipal Airport is a city owned, public use airport located four nautical miles west of the central business district of Great Bend, a city in Barton County, Kansas, United States.
• The closest airport to Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Hays Regional Airport (HYS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NNW of GBD.

Facts about Merrill Field (MRI):

• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• The airstrip is still in use today as the primary field for private wheel equipped aircraft in the warmer months and for ski equipped in the winter.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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 furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Merrill Field, located on the east end of 5th Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska, was the only airport serving Anchorage until 1951 when the introduction of ever larger and faster commercial aircraft required that an airfield with longer and heavier runways be built.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.