Nonstop flight route between Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Guernsey Airport (GCI), Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,017 miles (or 6,465 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 Guernsey 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 Guernsey 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 Guernsey Airport (GCI):

• Guernsey Airport (GCI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Guernsey Airport handled 886,396 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Guernsey Airport (meaning Guernsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,024 miles (19,350 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The airport was officially opened on 5 May 1939.
• The proposal is to add runway safety areas, RESAs, extend the take-off section by 120 m, and displace the landing section to the west, the first of a two phase runway extension.
• Because of Guernsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 336 feet, planes can take off or land at Guernsey 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 Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Jersey Airport (JER), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of GCI.
• In 1960 there were four grass runways, with lengths ranging from 2,040 ft to 3,060 ft.
• Flybe are unable to operate their Embraer 195 aircraft into Guernsey due to the low strength of the runway, and elected to operate the smaller de Havilland Dash 8s.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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".
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.