Nonstop flight route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Qaarsut / Uummannaq, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Qaarsut Airport (JQA), Qaarsut / Uummannaq, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,230 miles (or 3,588 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Qaarsut Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR):

• Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) has 3 runways.
• 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 airport has two aircraft spotter locations.
• 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.
• In 1997 the new 8,500-foot runway 17/35 was added to allow the airport to continue operations during the $32 million reconstruction of runway 8R/26L, completed in 2001.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Qaarsut Airport (JQA):

• Qaarsut Airport (JQA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Qaarsut Airport is an airport in Qaarsut, a settlement on the Nuussuaq Peninsula in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.
• The furthest airport from Qaarsut Airport (JQA) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 10,387 miles (16,716 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• Qaarsut Airport handled 7,105 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Qaarsut Airport (JQA) is Uummannaq Heliport (UMD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) ESE of JQA.
• The decision to build the airport in Qaarsut was intended to solve the bottleneck on the Ilulissat-Uummannaq route, until then operated by Air Greenland with Sikorsky S-61N helicopters.
• In addition to being known as "Qaarsut Airport", other names for JQA include "Mittarfik Qaarsut" and "Uummannaq/Qaarsut Airport".
• Proposals to close the airport have to date been rejected.Sunk costs, tourism potential for northwestern and northern Greenland, and the 2010 reinvigoration of the mining activities in Maamorilik northeast of Ukkusissat, as well as on Appat Island in the future−are the primary reasons for keeping the airport open.
• Because of Qaarsut Airport's relatively low elevation of 289 feet, planes can take off or land at Qaarsut 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.