Nonstop flight route between Vardø, Norway and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vardø Airport, Svartnes (VAW), Vardø, Norway and Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,346 miles (or 5,385 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 Vardø Airport, Svartnes and Merrill Field, 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 Vardø Airport, Svartnes and Merrill Field. 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 Vardø Airport, Svartnes (VAW):

• In addition to being known as "Vardø Airport, Svartnes", another name for VAW is "Vardø Lufthavn, Svartnes".
• The furthest airport from Vardø Airport, Svartnes (VAW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,373 miles (16,694 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Vardø Airport, Svartnes's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Vardø Airport, Svartnes 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 airport is served by Widerøe with 39-seat Dash 8-100 aircraft connecting the community to Tromsø, Kirkenes and other communities in Finnmark.
• On 5 March 1978 the Partenavian P.68 LN-MAD operated by Norving crashed at Falkefjell during approach to Vadsø Airport.
• The wooden runway was pillaged by locals to accumulate building materials for reconstruction.
• Vardø Airport, Svartnes handled 14,664 passengers last year.
• Svartnes was built by the German Luftwaffe 1943, where it served fighter aircraft to protect German convoys.
• Svartnes was constructed by the Luftwaffe during the German occupation of Norway during World War II.
• The closest airport to Vardø Airport, Svartnes (VAW) is Vadsø Airport (VDS), which is located 34 miles (56 kilometers) SW of VAW.

Facts about Merrill Field (MRI):

• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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.
• A section of the airport is built over the closed Merrill Field Land Fill.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.
• The furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.