Nonstop flight route between Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,109 miles (or 9,831 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 Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport and Grand Forks 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 Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport and Grand Forks 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 Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ):

• Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport handled 959,960 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) is Aboisso Airport (ABO), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) ENE of ABJ.
• The furthest airport from Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) is Arorae Island Airport (AIS), which is nearly antipodal to Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (meaning Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Arorae Island Airport), and is located 12,247 miles (19,710 kilometers) away in Arorae Island, Kiribati.
• On 4 May 2012, PROPARCO loans 10 billion CFA francs to Aeria to fund a major expansion and modernization program for the airport.
• On the night of 2 to 3 April 2011, the airport was again taken by the French troops in order to evacuate French nationals and foreigners, as the final assault against the presidential palace was announced, during the battle for Abidjan.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.
• In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.