Nonstop flight route between Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Guernsey Airport (GCI), Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,326 miles (or 6,962 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 Guernsey Airport and Eielson Air Force Base, 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 Guernsey Airport and Eielson Air Force Base. 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 Guernsey Airport (GCI):

• Because of Guernsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 336 feet, planes can take off or land at Guernsey 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 closest airport to Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Jersey Airport (JER), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of GCI.
• Guernsey Airport (GCI) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 7 December 1997 an F-27 operated by AirUK arriving from Southampton overshot the runway while landing in high cross winds.
• Guernsey Airport handled 886,396 passengers last year.
• Work started on a new terminal building in 2002, which became operational on 19 April 2004.
• The furthest airport from Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Guernsey Airport (meaning Guernsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,024 miles (19,350 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The proposal is to add runway safety areas, RESAs, extend the take-off section by 120 m, and displace the landing section to the west, the first of a two phase runway extension.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• 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 closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• The Cold War seen the use of Eielson's expansive reservation as a maneuver area for the U.S.
• 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 addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• A new chapter for the base began 1 October 1981 when the 343d Composite Wing replaced the 5010th as Eielson's host unit.
• Eielson AFB was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field.