Nonstop flight route between Tanana, Alaska, United States and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL), Tanana, Alaska, United States and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,993 miles (or 12,864 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport and RAF Ascension. 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL):

• Because of Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) is Manley Hot Springs Airport (MLY), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) ESE of TAL.
• The furthest airport from Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,280 miles (16,544 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) currently has only 1 runway.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 3,549 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 3,298 enplanements in 2009, and 3,241 in 2010.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• The RAF presence on Ascension is backed up by United States Air Force personnel, who contribute a similar number of service personnel to ensure the effective running of the station, under the command of Captain Eduard Rodriguez, who is responsible to the RAF Station Commander.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.
• Wideawake Airfield was a US installation built in 1943 by arrangement with the British government.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.