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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), Marseille, France and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,069 miles (or 8,158 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 Marseille Provence 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 Marseille Provence 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 Marseille Provence Airport (MRS):

• In addition to being known as "Marseille Provence Airport", another name for MRS is "Aéroport de Marseille ProvenceAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-14".
• In September 2006, the airport opened its new terminal MP2 for budget airlines.
• Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) has 2 runways.
• Marseille Provence Airport handled 8,295,479 passengers last year.
• Because of Marseille Provence Airport's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Marseille Provence 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 Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Marseille Provence Airport (meaning Marseille Provence Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,349 miles (19,874 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) is Aix-en-Provence Aerodrome (QXB), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) ENE of MRS.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• 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.
• Construction on Elmendorf Field began on 8 June 1940, as a major and permanent military airfield near Anchorage.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• 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 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 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 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.