Nonstop flight route between Qingyang, Gansu, China and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qingyang Airport (IQN), Qingyang, Gansu, China and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,468 miles (or 7,191 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 Qingyang Airport and Elmendorf 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 Qingyang Airport and Elmendorf 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 Qingyang Airport (IQN):

• In addition to being known as "Qingyang Airport", other names for IQN include "庆阳机场" and "Qìngyáng Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Qingyang Airport (IQN) is Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) SE of IQN.
• The furthest airport from Qingyang Airport (IQN) is General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport (YAI), which is nearly antipodal to Qingyang Airport (meaning Qingyang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport), and is located 12,379 miles (19,922 kilometers) away in Chillán, Ñuble, Chile.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• Air defense forces reached their zenith in 1957 with almost 200 fighter aircraft assigned to six fighter interceptor squadrons located at Elmendorf AFB and Ladd AFB.
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.
• On 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson.
• The 1980s witnessed a period of growth and modernization of Elmendorf AFB.
• The furthest airport from Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,542 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• On 28 July 2010, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft practicing for an upcoming airshow crashed into a wooded area within the base, killing all four air crew members.