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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS), Rennes, France and Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,680 miles (or 7,532 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 Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport and Merrill Field, 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 Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport and Merrill Field. 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 Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS):

• Before the construction of this airport, Rennes had a small hippodrome which was used as a landing strip in Gayeulles, to the northeast of the city.
• The furthest airport from Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (meaning Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,048 miles (19,390 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The combat units moved out by the end of September and Rennes Airport was used as a supply and maintenance depot for American aircraft for several months, before being returned to French civil control on 30 November 1944.
• Because of Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport's relatively low elevation of 124 feet, planes can take off or land at Rennes–Saint-Jacques 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.
• Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS) is Dinard–Pleurtuit–Saint-Malo Airport (DNR), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) NNW of RNS.
• Due to the raising traffic in the Nantes Atlantique Airport, there is now an ongoing regional project to build a second large airport between Rennes and Nantes that will service both cities.
• In addition to being known as "Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport", another name for RNS is "Aéroport de Rennes – Saint-JacquesAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-27".
• This airport has some local competition with the Dinard Pleurtuit Saint-Malo Airport, on the Channel coast, preferred by low cost companies for passengers.

Facts about Merrill Field (MRI):

• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.
• Merrill Field, located on the east end of 5th Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska, was the only airport serving Anchorage until 1951 when the introduction of ever larger and faster commercial aircraft required that an airfield with longer and heavier runways be built.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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.