Nonstop flight route between Balikpapan, East Kalimantan and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN), Balikpapan, East Kalimantan and Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,625 miles (or 13,880 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 Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport and Grand Forks International Airport, 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 Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport and Grand Forks International Airport. 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 Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN):

• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport is the 6th busiest airport in Indonesia and the busiest airport in Kalimantan and Borneo with 7.1 million passenger traffic in 2013.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport handled 5,680,961 passengers last year.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport, formerly named Sepinggan Airport, is the principal airport serving East Kalimantan area on the island of Kalimantan, Indonesia.
• Because of Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman 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.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) is Bontang Airport (BXT), which is located 104 miles (168 kilometers) NNE of BPN.
• The second phase renovation took place in 1996 to renovate the hangars, fuel depots and the administration buildings.
• The furthest airport from Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) is Barcelos Airport (BAZ), which is nearly antipodal to Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (meaning Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barcelos Airport), and is located 12,281 miles (19,764 kilometers) away in Barcelos, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport had been renovated twice from 1991 to 1997.

Facts about Grand Forks International Airport (GFK):

• Because of Grand Forks International Airport's relatively low elevation of 845 feet, planes can take off or land at Grand Forks International 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 Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) is Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) W of GFK.
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,514 miles (16,921 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• GFK Flight Support, the fixed base operator at the airport, completed construction of a new $4.5 million facility in Fall 2008.
• Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) has 4 runways.
• The new passenger terminal, designed by JLG Architects, is a two story building, with Delta and Allegiant ticketing counters, baggage claim carousel, and several rental car agencies.
• In the mid-2000s, discussion began of upgrading or totally replacing the terminal as it has structural and safety problems and leaves little to no room for expansion.
• On October 3, 2012, United Airlines started flights between Denver, CO and Grand Forks, but on September 10, 2013 they announced they would end service on December 3, 2013 citing low loads.
• Due to the increased amount of general aviation traffic, primarily from the UND Aerospace flight training school, a fourth runway has been completed on the southeast side of the airport.