Nonstop flight route between Seward, Alaska, United States and Edwards, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SWD to EDW:
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- About this route
- SWD Airport Information
- EDW Airport Information
- Facts about SWD
- Facts about EDW
- Map of Nearest Airports to SWD
- List of Nearest Airports to SWD
- Map of Furthest Airports from SWD
- List of Furthest Airports from SWD
- Map of Nearest Airports to EDW
- List of Nearest Airports to EDW
- Map of Furthest Airports from EDW
- List of Furthest Airports from EDW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Seward Airport (SWD), Seward, Alaska, United States and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,239 miles (or 3,603 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 Seward Airport and Edwards Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SWD / PAWD |
Airport Name: | Seward Airport |
Location: | Seward, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 60°7'36"N by 149°25'8"W |
Area Served: | Seward, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | Alaska DOT&PF - Central Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 22 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SWD |
More Information: | SWD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | EDW / KEDW |
Airport Name: | Edwards Air Force Base |
Location: | Edwards, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°54'20"N by 117°53'0"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Air Force |
View all routes: | Routes from EDW |
More Information: | EDW Maps & Info |
Facts about Seward Airport (SWD):
- Seward Airport (SWD) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Seward Airport (SWD) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,617 miles (17,086 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Seward Airport covers an area of 302 acres at an elevation of 22 feet above mean sea level.
- Because of Seward Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Seward 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.
- The closest airport to Seward Airport (SWD) is Chenega Bay Airport (NCN), which is located 49 miles (79 kilometers) E of SWD.
Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):
- In July 1942, Muroc Army Airfield became a separate airfield from March Field and was placed under the jurisdiction of Fourth Air Force.
- The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
- There are a vast array of organizations at Edwards that do not fall under the 412th Test Wing.
- In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
- The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.
- Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
- The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The North Base is located at the north-west corner of Rogers Lake and is the site of the Air Force's most secret test programs at Edwards.
- With the X-1, flight testing at Muroc began to assume two distinct identities.