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):

• Woodbourne was one of the first airports in New Zealand.
• Woodbourne Airport (BHE) has 3 runways.
• Air New Zealand operate daily up to four flights to Auckland, eight flights to Wellington and three flights to Christchurch
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.