Nonstop flight route between San Antonio, Texas, United States and Alpe d'Huez, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States and Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ), Alpe d'Huez, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,455 miles (or 8,778 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Alpe d'Huez 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Alpe d'Huez 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):

• By late 1959 Lackland was also performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Joint Base San Antonio, which includes Lackland Air Force Base, was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
• The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
• Lackland AFB hosts a collection of vintage military aircraft on static display on its parade grounds, including a B-52 Stratofortress, F-4 Phantom II, SR-71 Blackbird, C-121 Constellation, B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-25 Mitchell.
• In late 1951 Air Defense Command selected Lackland Air Force Base as one of twenty-eight radar stations built as part of the second segment of the permanent radar surveillance network.
• No other item in the 1960s compared to the incident that occurred at Lackland in February 1966 with the death of a basic trainee.
• Construction on Lackland Air Force Base began on 15 Jun, 1941, and it was originally part of Kelly Field.
• In September 1972, the Houston-based 630th Radar Squadron sent a detachment to this FAA-operated site to set up an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar to join the AN/FPS-66A search radar already in place.

Facts about Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ):

• In addition to being known as "Alpe d'Huez Airport", another name for AHZ is "L'altiport de l'Alpe d'Huez".
• The closest airport to Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) is Méribel Airport (MFX), which is located 33 miles (52 kilometers) NE of AHZ.
• Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Alpe d'Huez Airport (meaning Alpe d'Huez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Alpe d'Huez Airport's high elevation of 6,037 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AHZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AHZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.