Nonstop flight route between Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD), Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,695 miles (or 5,946 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 George Best Belfast City 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 George Best Belfast City 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 George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD):

• In addition to being known as "George Best Belfast City Airport", another name for BHD is "Belfast City Airport".
• George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
• Flexibus route 600 is the Belfast City Airlink service, from the terminal to the Belfast Europa Buscentre adjacent to the Europa Hotel and Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station.
• The closest airport to George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD) is Belfast International Airport (BFS), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) WNW of BHD.
• On 30 October 2007, Ryanair established its 23rd base at the airport.
• Sydenham railway station is adjacent to the southern perimeter of the airport, across the A2 from the old passenger terminal.
• George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD) currently has only 1 runway.
• George Best Belfast City Airport handled 2,541,759 passengers last year.
• In October 2012 Aer Lingus moved its services from Belfast International to the Airport.
• Following major capital investment Bombardier sold the airport in 2003 for £35 million to the Spanish company Ferrovial, the owner of BAA Airports.
• The furthest airport from George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,843 miles (19,059 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of George Best Belfast City Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at George Best Belfast City 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 airport is a major base for Flybe, which began operations at the airport in 1993 and is now the largest operator at Belfast City.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• 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.