Nonstop flight route between Lyon, France and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), Lyon, France and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,912 miles (or 7,904 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN):

• The closest airport to Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) E of LYN.
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Bron Airport (meaning Lyon–Bron Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,288 miles (19,775 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Bron Airport", another name for LYN is "Aéroport de Lyon-BronAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-6".
• Lyon–Bron Airport is an airport located in Bron, 10 kilometres east of Lyon, both communes of the Rhône department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.
• After the Normandy Invasion of France by Allied Forces, the USAAF 50th Fighter Group used the airport flying P-47 Thunderbolts in support of ground forces in Southern France from September 25 though November, 1944.
• After the 1940 Battle of France during World War II initially the Lyon area was part of the southern unoccupied zone of France, and limited air service remained at the airport.
• Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lyon–Bron Airport's relatively low elevation of 659 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Bron 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.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (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 Elmendorf AFB is a site of one of the now decommissioned FLR-9 Wullenweber-class antennas, a node of the now obsolete High Frequency SIGINT direction finding system.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• Despite a diminished number of personnel and aircraft, a turning point in Elmendorf's history occurred in 1970 with the arrival of the 43d Tactical Fighter Squadron in June 1970 from MacDill AFB, Florida.
• 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.
• The Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• The late 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s brought about a gradual, but significant decline in air defense forces in Alaska due to mission changes and the demands of the Vietnam War.
• 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.
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.
• Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States military facility in Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.
• On 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson.