Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,738 miles (or 6,016 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Eielson 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Eielson 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater 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 furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• The airport is home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S.
• The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and Fly2PIE in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.
• In the 1950s some airlines provided service to both PIE and TPA, such as Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines and Northwest Airlines.
• This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year.
• The closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• The 6th SW flew RC–135 strategic reconnaissance missions with an assigned squadron, and, with KC–135s deployed to Eielson from SAC, AFRES, and the ANG, conducted Alaska Tanker Task Force missions to support reconnaissance and numerous exercises for the Air Force and Navy.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• A month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at 26-Mile Airfield with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.
• The Air Defense Command deployed interceptors to Eielson during the 1960s.
• Today the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division can be found training there.
• Taken off deployment status in 2007 as a result of BRAC 2005, today the primary mission of the base is to support Red Flag-Alaska, a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S.