Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,438 miles (or 10,361 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 Merrill Field and Cairns 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 Merrill Field and Cairns 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 Merrill Field (MRI):

• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• The furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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.
• A section of the airport is built over the closed Merrill Field Land Fill.
• The airstrip is still in use today as the primary field for private wheel equipped aircraft in the warmer months and for ski equipped in the winter.

Facts about Cairns Airport (CNS):

• The closest airport to Cairns Airport (CNS) is Mareeba Airfield (MRG), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) WSW of CNS.
• The airport has a single runway which is 3,156 m long.
• Cairns Airport (CNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cairns Airport handled 3,848,728 passengers last year.
• Airport shuttle bus services to hotels, city centre, Northern Beaches, Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation are available.
• Because of Cairns Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns 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 Cairns Airport (CNS) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,832 miles (19,041 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Cairns Airport goes back to 1928 when Tom McDonald started flying his de Havilland Gipsy Moth off a sand ridge near the present airport.