Nonstop flight route between Castle Donington, Leicestershire, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East Midlands Airport (EMA), Castle Donington, Leicestershire, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,918 miles (or 6,305 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 East Midlands 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 East Midlands 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 East Midlands Airport (EMA):

• In September 2006 Plane Stupid blocked a taxiway at the airport for four hours.
• East Midlands Airport is the second largest cargo airport in the United Kingdom after London Heathrow.
• With growing passenger and cargo traffic, further expansion was proposed for the airport in 1992.
• Because of East Midlands Airport's relatively low elevation of 306 feet, planes can take off or land at East Midlands 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 East Midlands Airport (EMA) is RAF Cottesmore (OKH), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ESE of EMA.
• East Midlands Airport handled 4,334,117 passengers last year.
• East Midlands Airport (EMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• BMI had its maintenance base at the airport.
• The airport was originally a Royal Air Force station, RAF Castle Donington, which was decommissioned in 1946.
• The furthest airport from East Midlands Airport (EMA) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.