Nonstop flight route between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,584 miles (or 5,769 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 Myrtle Beach International 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 Myrtle Beach International 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 Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR):

• The furthest airport from Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,632 miles (18,719 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Joint use of Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was first agreed in 1955.
• Myrtle Beach International Airport handled 1,664,917 passengers last year.
• Because of Myrtle Beach International Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Myrtle Beach International 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 closest airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) is Grand Strand Airport (CRE), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of MYR.
• The airport was a designated launch abort site for the Space Shuttle, but was never used.
• Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Direct Air connected a number of airports to Myrtle Beach from 2007 until 2012, when it abruptly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operations.
• The airport has seven gates with expansion under way to add six more by July 2012.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• 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 closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The adjacent facilities were officially combined by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
• 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.
• 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 Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.