Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Funchal, Madeira, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,168 miles (or 6,708 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 Grand Forks International Airport and Madeira 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 Grand Forks International Airport and Madeira 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 Grand Forks International Airport (GFK):

• One option was to keep the terminal as is.
• 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.
• 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.
• Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) has 4 runways.
• 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.
• The now closed original passenger terminal at GFK was built in 1964.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Madeira Airport (FNC):

• Funchal Airport is 13.2 km east-northeast of the regional capital Funchal.
• In 1972, the popularity of visiting the island of Madeira increased, so the runway had to be extended to allow modern and larger aircraft to land.
• Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.
• In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".
• Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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.