Nonstop flight route between Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan and Fairbanks / Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hakodate Airport (HKD), Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan and Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), Fairbanks / Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,131 miles (or 5,039 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 Hakodate Airport and Ladd Army Airfield, 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 Hakodate Airport and Ladd Army Airfield. 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 Hakodate Airport (HKD):

• Because of Hakodate Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Hakodate 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 Hakodate Airport (HKD) is Aomori Airport (AOJ), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) S of HKD.
• Hakodate Airport (HKD) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hakodate Airport", other names for HKD include "函館空港" and "Hakodate Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Hakodate Airport (HKD) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,458 miles (18,440 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• On September 6, 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the West by landing a MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Hakodate Airport.

Facts about Ladd Army Airfield (FBK):

• When the Air Force was made a separate branch in 1947 the name was changed to Ladd Air Force Base.
• The furthest airport from Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,286 miles (16,554 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) is Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of FBK.
• Testing at Ladd Field began again in 1942, but by 1943 aircraft cold-weather testing had become a second priority, as Ladd became the hub for fighters and bombers destined for the "Forgotten 1,000 Mile War" in the Aleutians against the Japanese or on their way to Soviet forces as part of the Lend-Lease program.
• Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Alaska's transportation infrastructure at the time was so limited and the problem of military supply so acute, it also made sense to concentrate the bases along existing supply lines near Anchorage and Fairbanks.
• Because of Ladd Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 454 feet, planes can take off or land at Ladd Army Airfield 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.
• From the onset of the Korean War in 1950 and continuing through 1957, Ladd saw intense use.
• In addition to being known as "Ladd Army Airfield", another name for FBK is "(Ladd Air Force Base)".