Nonstop flight route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Orléans, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE), Orléans, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,012 miles (or 6,457 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base, 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base. 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):

• 81,221,489 pounds of air freight were handled in 2012, representing an increase of 0.6% over the previous year.
• 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 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 2004 the airport served more than 2 million passengers for the first time in a year.
• 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.
• An outdoor viewing area on Kraft Avenue north of 52nd Street has picnic tables, litter barrels, and a portable toilet.
• Metro Cab and Metro Cars provides taxi and luxury sedan service and several car rental agencies operate rental counters in the airport.
• Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) has 3 runways.
• 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.

Facts about Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE):

• After the war, the base was completely rebuilt.
• The closest airport to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) NNW of ORE.
• Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Orléans - Bricy Air Base", other names for ORE include "Base aérienne 123", "« Commandant Charles Paoli »" and "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-50".
• Because of Orléans - Bricy Air Base's relatively low elevation of 314 feet, planes can take off or land at Orléans - Bricy Air Base 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 Americans returned control of the base to the French Air Force at the end of October 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield.
• The furthest airport from Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (meaning Orléans - Bricy Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,136 miles (19,531 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The mission of the base is primarily tactical airlift.