Nonstop flight route between Siena, Italy and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY), Siena, Italy and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,138 miles (or 8,269 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 Siena-Ampugnano 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 Siena-Ampugnano 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 Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY):

• The closest airport to Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) is Grosseto Airport (GRS), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of SAY.
• Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The site has recently been proposed for a new international airport capable of handling 4 million passengers a year by 2020.
• In addition to being known as "Siena-Ampugnano Airport", other names for SAY include "Aeroporto di Siena-Ampugnano" and "Siena-Ampugnano".
• The furthest airport from Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Siena-Ampugnano Airport (meaning Siena-Ampugnano Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,049 miles (19,391 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Siena-Ampugnano Airport's relatively low elevation of 634 feet, planes can take off or land at Siena-Ampugnano 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.
• Siena-Ampugnano Airport handled 3,745 passengers last year.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• 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.
• On 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• 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.
• 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 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 uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.
• That importance was further recognized when the F-15E Strike Eagle equipped 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron was reassigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base from Clark Air Base in the Philippines in May 1991.
• 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.