Nonstop flight route between Biak, Indonesia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,906 miles (or 12,724 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 Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):

• Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
• Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese, of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944.
• In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".
• The closest airport to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.
• The furthest airport from Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
• Taxis and civil transport cars can be used as public transport alongside private vehicles.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Japan then attempted to build a second military airfield in Samao county.
• With the advent of jet airliners such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, the airport went through another modernization to start accommodating them.

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.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.