Nonstop flight route between Medina, Saudi Arabia and Alta, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), Medina, Saudi Arabia and Alta Airport (ALF), Alta, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,208 miles (or 5,162 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Alta Airport, 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Alta Airport. 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED):

• The closest airport to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Yanbu International Airport (YNB), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) WSW of MED.
• On 5 January 2014, a Saudia Boeing 767-300, flight SV2841 from Mashhad, Iran made an emergency landing after one of its main landing gear failed to deploy.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) has 2 runways.
• It is the fourth busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 1,592,000 passengers in 2004, including 378,715 Hajj charter passengers.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport handled 1,592,000 passengers last year.
• On 16 March 2001, the airport was the scene of a bloody end to the hijacking of a Russian based Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 jet bound from Istanbul to Moscow carrying 162 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (meaning Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.

Facts about Alta Airport (ALF):

• Activity at Alta Airport peaked in the following years.
• Services were at first operated by Scandinavian Airlines System.
• The furthest airport from Alta Airport (ALF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,502 miles (16,901 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Alta Airport", another name for ALF is "Alta lufthavn".
• The closest airport to Alta Airport (ALF) is Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of ALF.
• Because of Alta Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Alta 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.
• SAS Commuter was established in 1988 and started operations in Northern Norway in May 1990, making Alta its central hub for Finnmark.
• Alta Airport (ALF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Alta Airport is an international airport serving Alta, a town and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway.
• Alta Airport handled 353,051 passengers last year.
• However, no progress was made with the airfield for over a decade.
• Alta Airport is served by three scheduled airlines and two charter airlines, providing services to eleven destinations, including two abroad.
• Alta Airport's catchment area includes Kautokeino, which has no airport.
• Local politicians started discussing the airfield plans again in the mid-1950s, and an airport for Alta was included in the national airport plan launched in 1956.