Nonstop flight route between Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pierre Regional Airport (PIR), Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,297 miles (or 3,696 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 relatively short distance between Pierre Regional Airport and Elmendorf Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Pierre Regional Airport (PIR):

• Pierre Regional Airport is a city owned, public airport three miles east of Pierre, in Hughes County, South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Pierre Regional Airport", another name for PIR is "Pierre Army Airfield".
• A new terminal has been designed, and construction began in late Spring, 2011.
• The closest airport to Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Mobridge Municipal Airport (MBG), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) N of PIR.
• Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) has 2 runways.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 15,983 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 13,692 in 2009 and 14,686 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,493 miles (16,887 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

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".
• 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.
• Despite a diminished number of personnel and aircraft, a turning point in Elmendorf's history occurred in 1970 with the arrival of the 43d Tactical Fighter Squadron in June 1970 from MacDill AFB, Florida.
• 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 closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.