Nonstop flight route between San Juan Island, Washington, United States and Alta, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (RCE), San Juan Island, Washington, United States and Alta Airport (ALF), Alta, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,072 miles (or 6,553 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 Roche Harbor Seaplane Base and Alta 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 Roche Harbor Seaplane Base and Alta 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 Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (RCE):

• In addition to being known as "Roche Harbor Seaplane Base", another name for RCE is "W39".
• Because of Roche Harbor Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Roche Harbor Seaplane Base 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.
• Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (RCE) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (RCE) is Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) SE of RCE.
• The furthest airport from Roche Harbor Seaplane Base (RCE) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,722 miles (17,256 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.

Facts about Alta Airport (ALF):

• Plans for expanding the 1,670-square-meter terminal facilities were first articulated by the Civil Airport Administration in the 1990s.
• However, no progress was made with the airfield for over a decade.
• Alta Airport handled 353,051 passengers last year.
• Because of Alta Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Alta 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.
• A proposal by a consultant company, ordered by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 2011, suggested that starting in 2013 the subsidized routes in Finnmark should follow a coastal route, leaving those to Kirkenes and the county capital of Vadsø as the only subsidized routes remaining at Alta.
• Alta Airport (ALF) currently has only 1 runway.
• SAS bought Braathens in 2001, resulting in the latter taking over the service to Oslo starting on 1 April 2002.
• In addition to being known as "Alta Airport", another name for ALF is "Alta lufthavn".
• The furthest airport from Alta Airport (ALF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,502 miles (16,901 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Alta Airport (ALF) is Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of ALF.
• Activity at Alta Airport peaked in the following years.