Nonstop flight route between Mehamn, Norway and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mehamn Airport (MEH), Mehamn, Norway and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,296 miles (or 5,305 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 Mehamn 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 Mehamn 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 Mehamn Airport (MEH):

• In addition to being known as "Mehamn Airport", another name for MEH is "Mehamn lufthavn".
• Mehamn Airport handled 16,810 passengers last year.
• Both the villages of Gamvik and Kjøllefjord were considered as alternative locations for the airport, and both received smaller airfields before Mehamn Airport opened in 1974.
• Mehamn Airport (MEH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Widerøe operated Twin Otters on the route until 1995, when the Dash 8 was introduced.
• Because of Mehamn Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Mehamn 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 furthest airport from Mehamn Airport (MEH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,384 miles (16,711 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 11 March 1982, Widerøe Flight 933 crashed into the Barents Sea between Berlevåg Airport and Mehamn Airport, killing all fifteen people on board the Twin Otter.
• The closest airport to Mehamn Airport (MEH) is Berlevåg Airport (BVG), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ESE of MEH.

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 closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• 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 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 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.
• Following World War II, Elmendorf assumed an increasing role in the defense of North America as the uncertain wartime relations between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated into the Cold War.