Nonstop flight route between Blenheim, New Zealand and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Woodbourne Airport (BHE), Blenheim, New Zealand and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,206 miles (or 13,206 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 Woodbourne 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 Woodbourne 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 Woodbourne Airport (BHE):

• Today it has more frequent operations, with Air New Zealand's regional subsidiary Eagle Airways using Beechcraft 1900 and Air Nelson using Bombardier Q300 aircraft.
• The closest airport to Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) WNW of BHE.
• Because of Woodbourne Airport's relatively low elevation of 109 feet, planes can take off or land at Woodbourne 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.
• Air New Zealand operate daily up to four flights to Auckland, eight flights to Wellington and three flights to Christchurch
• Woodbourne Aerodrome is a small, controlled aerodrome located 3NM west of Blenheim in the South Island of New Zealand, on State Highway Six, Middle Renwick Road.
• The furthest airport from Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Bragança Airport (BGC), which is nearly antipodal to Woodbourne Airport (meaning Woodbourne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bragança Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Bragança, Portugal.
• Woodbourne Airport (BHE) has 3 runways.

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.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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 being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.