Nonstop flight route between Aalesund, Norway and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES), Aalesund, Norway and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,735 miles (or 6,011 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES):

• The closest airport to Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) S of AES.
• Krohn Air to Trondheim-Værnes
• In addition to being known as "Ålesund Airport, Vigra", another name for AES is "Ålesund lufthavn, Vigra".
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is at an elevation of 70 feet above mean sea level.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra handled 1,077,209 passengers last year.
• Because of Ålesund Airport, Vigra's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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.
• Molde Airport, Kristiansund Airport and Ørsta/Volda Airport were opened in later years and serve as secondary regional airports for the region, providing domestic services today mostly served by smaller propeller aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,147 miles (17,940 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.
• 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.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.