Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,206 miles (or 8,378 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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):

• On November 9, 2010 KGFK had 100,570 boardings, one more than the record achieved in 12 months in 1994.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In 2009 the airport's FAA control tower was the 23rd busiest in the nation, with 346,165 tower operations.
• 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 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.
• The now closed original passenger terminal at GFK was built in 1964.
• Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) has 4 runways.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• On 19 August 2011 in the presence of Ivaylo Moskovski, minister of transport, information technology and communications, the BULATSA director general Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy AD chief executive director Pavel Kalistratov and Glavbolgarstroy AD executive director and management board member Nina Stoyanova signed the design execution and construction contract between BULATSA and Glavbolgarstroy AD for the new control tower at Sofia Airport.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Sofia Airport, sometimes also called Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport, is the main airport of Bulgaria.
• The new tower is an extremely important facility for both ATC and the airport because it is related to the safety and security of flights, explained by the transport department.
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The VIP terminal is located in the western wing of Terminal 1 and has an entrance of its own, providing an access to four separate rooms – one main room and two separated rooms with about 20 seats each.