Nonstop flight route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Gaborone, Botswana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE), Gaborone, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,413 miles (or 13,540 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Sir Seretse Khama International 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Sir Seretse Khama International 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR):

• The closest airport to Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Park Township Airport (HLM), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) W of GRR.
• Because of Gerald R. Ford International Airport's relatively low elevation of 794 feet, planes can take off or land at Gerald R. Ford 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 first scheduled air service in the United States was between Grand Rapids and Detroit on a Ford-Stout monoplane named Miss Grand Rapids, which started July 26, 1926.
• Cargo Carriers |FedEx Express | Memphis, Indianapolis, Rochester, NY |FedEx Feeder operated by CSA Air | Sault Ste.
• Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) has 3 runways.
• Metro Cab and Metro Cars provides taxi and luxury sedan service and several car rental agencies operate rental counters in the airport.
• The furthest airport from Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,165 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Route 17, Woodland/Airport, travels between the airport and Woodland Mall seven days a week.
• In January 2012 Southwest Airlines announced it would continue Airtran flights to Grand Rapids and eventually transfer them to Southwest.
• When new baggage screening regulations were introduced by the Transportation Security Administration in 2002, the airport was one of the first in the nation to conduct trials on the new screening machines.

Facts about Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE):

• The furthest airport from Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (meaning Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Airline sources say the pilot had been grounded on medical reasons, refused reinstatement and regrounded until February 2000.
• The government of Botswana has started a $61 million expansion plan to further develop the airport to accommodate increased traffic and larger planes.
• Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, located 15 kilometres north of Gaborone, is the main international airport of the capital city of Botswana.
• Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) currently has only 1 runway.
• On October 11, 1999, an Air Botswana pilot, Captain Chris Phatswe, commandeered a parked Aérospatiale ATR 42 aircraft A2-ABB without authorization in the early morning and took off.
• The closest airport to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) SSW of GBE.