Nonstop flight route between Ajaccio, Corsica, France and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA), Ajaccio, Corsica, France and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,772 miles (or 7,680 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 Napoleon Bonaparte 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 Napoleon Bonaparte 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 Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA):

• The airport is the main base of regional airline Air Corsica, which operates services to continental France.
• Air Corsica has its head office on the airport property.
• In addition to being known as "Napoleon Bonaparte Airport", another name for AJA is "Aéroport d'Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte".
• Because of Napoleon Bonaparte Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Napoleon Bonaparte 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 Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (meaning Napoleon Bonaparte Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,140 miles (19,538 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA) is Figari-Sud Corse Airport (Figari South Corsica Airport) (FSC), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) SSE of AJA.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.