Nonstop flight route between Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway and Galena, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vadsø Airport (VDS), Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway and Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport (GAL), Galena, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,117 miles (or 5,017 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 Vadsø Airport and Edward G. Pitka Sr. 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 Vadsø Airport and Edward G. Pitka Sr. 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 Vadsø Airport (VDS):

• Both Widerøe and Norving applied to operate the Finnmark route, which would connect the airports together and to the primary airports in Finnmark and Tromsø Airport.
• The furthest airport from Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,407 miles (16,748 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Vadsø Airport's relatively low elevation of 127 feet, planes can take off or land at Vadsø 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.
• Vadsø Airport handled 81,772 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Vadsø Airport", another name for VDS is "Vadsø lufthavn".
• The distance from Vardø Airport to Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen is 38 kilometers.
• The closest airport to Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) S of VDS.
• Vadsø is served by Widerøe, which operates 39-seat Dash 8-100 aircraft to other communities in Finnmark.

Facts about Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport (GAL):

• Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport (GAL) has 2 runways.
• Because of Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport's relatively low elevation of 153 feet, planes can take off or land at Edward G. Pitka Sr. 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 furthest airport from Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport (GAL) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 10,313 miles (16,598 kilometers) away in George, South Africa.
• As Galena Airport, it was used as a military transport base during World War II, facilitating the transit of Lend-Lease aircraft to the Soviet Union.
• In addition to being known as "Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport", another name for GAL is "(former Galena Air Force Base)".
• The airport also sports a ski-jump takeoff ramp at one end and provisions for arresting gear at the other, a leftover from the Cold War years as Galena Air Force Base, as tactical aircraft required more landing and takeoff space than was available on the runway.
• The closest airport to Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport (GAL) is Koyukuk Airport (KYU), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) WNW of GAL.