Nonstop flight route between Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC), Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,379 miles (or 7,047 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 Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport and Eielson 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 Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport and Eielson 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 Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC):

• Construction of Terminal 3 to the west of the older terminal building began in April 2007 at a cost of 2.8 billion yuan.
• Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport handled 11,078,597 passengers last year.
• Summer 2005 saw Diwopu get a boost when the airport started receiving major foreign airlines.
• Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Ürümqi Airport was opened to foreign passengers in 1973, and has been the emergency landing ground for airlines to Europe and west Asia.
• In addition to being known as "Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport", other names for URC include "ئۈرۈمچى دىئوپا خەلقئارا ئايروپورتى乌鲁木齐地窝堡国际机场" and "Wūlǔmùqí Dìwōpù Guójì Jīcháng".
• The furthest airport from Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) is Gamboa Airport (WCA), which is located 11,489 miles (18,490 kilometers) away in Castro, Chile.
• The closest airport to Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) is Turpan Jiaohe Airport (TLQ), which is located 102 miles (163 kilometers) SE of URC.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• Another change involved the 3rd Fighter Training Squadron, which was replaced by the 353rd Fighter Squadron.
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• The 375th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, from the 308th Bombardment Group at Tinker AFB Oklahoma, arrived at Eielson on 5 March 1949.
• Headquarters USAF General Order 2, dated 13 January 1948, redesignated Mile 26 as Eielson AFB.
• A month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield.
• Operational uses of Mile 26 were few.