Nonstop flight route between Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GCN to BIF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- GCN Airport Information
- BIF Airport Information
- Facts about GCN
- Facts about BIF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCN
- List of Nearest Airports to GCN
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCN
- List of Furthest Airports from GCN
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIF
- List of Nearest Airports to BIF
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIF
- List of Furthest Airports from BIF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Biggs Army Airfield (BIF), Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 435 miles (or 701 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 relatively short distance between Grand Canyon National Park Airport and Biggs Army Airfield, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCN / KGCN |
| Airport Name: | Grand Canyon National Park Airport |
| Location: | Tusayan, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°57'7"N by 112°8'48"W |
| Area Served: | Grand Canyon |
| Operator/Owner: | State of Arizona |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 6609 feet (2,014 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GCN |
| More Information: | GCN Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIF / KBIF |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 31°50'57"N by 106°22'47"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 3946 feet (1,203 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BIF |
| More Information: | BIF Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):
- Air West, the predecessor airline to Hughes Airwest, also operated Douglas DC-9 jets from the airport in addition to flying services with Fairchild F-27 turboprops.
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport covers an area of 859 acres at an elevation of 6,609 feet above mean sea level.
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
- The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Biggs Army Airfield (BIF):
- Prior to the takeover of Biggs by SAC in October 1948, it had previously moved the B-29 Superfortress-equipped 97th Bombardment Group to the base in May.
- The furthest airport from Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,387 miles (18,325 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In addition to being known as "Biggs Army Airfield", another name for BIF is "Biggs Air Force BaseBiggs Field".
- With World War II imminent, a massive construction effort was begun at Biggs Army Airfield between 1942–1945.
- With the inactivation of the 362d, its personnel and aircraft were assigned to the newly reactivated 20th Fighter Group.
- Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is El Paso International Airport (ELP), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) S of BIF.
- The 97th experienced two mission changes in 1955.
- While in Alaska, the 97th Bombardment Wing had been activated under the Hobson Plan, and the 97th Bomb Group became a subordinate organization under the wing.
- In August 1953, the first B-36D arrived at Biggs, although the majority of aircraft received were the later-model B-36J-III models with a higher operational ceiling, strengthened landing gear, increased fuel capacity, armament reduced to tail guns only and reduced crew.
