Nonstop flight route between Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ishigaki Airport (ISG), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,822 miles (or 10,979 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 Ishigaki Airport and Grand Forks 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 Ishigaki Airport and Grand Forks 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 Ishigaki Airport (ISG):

• The airport was opened in 1943 for military use, and converted to a civilian airport in 1956.
• Flight 611 of Southwest Air Lines is the only significant aircraft accident on record at Ishigaki Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Ishigaki Airport", other names for ISG include "石垣空港" and "Ishigaki Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Hateruma Airport (HTR), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SW of ISG.
• The furthest airport from Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Ishigaki Airport (meaning Ishigaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• Ishigaki Airport (ISG) currently has only 1 runway.
• None of the 138 passengers and crew were killed in the accident, but 67 were injured.
• To meet these needs New Ishigaki Airport was constructed on the eastern side of the island, replaced Ishigaki Airport.
• Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 took off on runway 36 from Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa at 13:09 for a regular flight to Ishigaki Airport, Japan.
• The airport served about 1.8 million passengers a year, making it the second busiest third-class airport in Japan, behind Kobe Airport, and traffic grew steadily as the Yaeyama Islands become a popular tourist destination.
• Because of Ishigaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 86 feet, planes can take off or land at Ishigaki 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 Grand Forks International Airport (GFK):

• The consulting group recommended that a brand new passenger terminal would the best solution to the current terminal's problems.
• One option was to keep the terminal as is.
• Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) has 4 runways.
• 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.
• GFK Flight Support, the fixed base operator at the airport, completed construction of a new $4.5 million facility in Fall 2008.
• 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.
• 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 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.