Nonstop flight route between Grootfontein, Namibia and Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFY to BIF:
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- About this route
- GFY Airport Information
- BIF Airport Information
- Facts about GFY
- Facts about BIF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFY
- List of Nearest Airports to GFY
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFY
- List of Furthest Airports from GFY
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIF
- List of Nearest Airports to BIF
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIF
- List of Furthest Airports from BIF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grootfontein Airport (GFY), Grootfontein, Namibia and Biggs Army Airfield (BIF), Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,918 miles (or 14,352 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 Grootfontein Airport and Biggs Army Airfield, 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 Grootfontein Airport and Biggs Army Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFY / FYGF |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grootfontein, Namibia |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°36'6"S by 18°7'20"E |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4636 feet (1,413 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GFY |
More Information: | GFY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIF / KBIF |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 31°50'57"N by 106°22'47"W |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 3946 feet (1,203 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BIF |
More Information: | BIF Maps & Info |
Facts about Grootfontein Airport (GFY):
- Because of Grootfontein Airport's high elevation of 4,636 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GFY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GFY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is Halali Airport (HAL), which is located 115 miles (186 kilometers) WNW of GFY.
- In addition to being known as "Grootfontein Airport", another name for GFY is "Grootfontein Airport".
- Grootfontein Airport (GFY) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Grootfontein Airport (meaning Grootfontein Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,222 miles (19,669 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
Facts about Biggs Army Airfield (BIF):
- In addition to being known as "Biggs Army Airfield", another name for BIF is "Biggs Air Force BaseBiggs Field".
- Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,387 miles (18,325 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Biggs Field is now the home of the United States Army 1st Armored Division.
- With World War II imminent, a massive construction effort was begun at Biggs Army Airfield between 1942–1945.
- In April 1943, the airfield came under the command of the Second Air Force and became headquarters for the XX Bomber Command.
- In 1958, the ability of the B-47 to penetrate Soviet airspace became compromised by improvements to the Soviet air defense system.
- In 1920 Camp Owen Bierne opened on the site of the current airbase as a base for airship operations but the units were soon disbanded.
- The closest airport to Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is El Paso International Airport (ELP), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) S of BIF.
- The 97th operated B-29s from Biggs, and participated in numerous exercises, operational readiness inspections, and overseas deployments.