Nonstop flight route between Jijiga, Ethiopia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wilwal International Airport (JIJ), Jijiga, Ethiopia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,796 miles (or 12,547 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 Wilwal International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force 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 Wilwal International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force 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 Wilwal International Airport (JIJ):

• Because of Wilwal International Airport's high elevation of 5,413 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JIJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JIJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The first airfield at Jijiga was constructed in 1929.
• The closest airport to Wilwal International Airport (JIJ) is Borama Airport (BXX), which is located 46 miles (73 kilometers) NNE of JIJ.
• Wilwal International Airport is an airport serving Jijiga, the capital city of the Somali Region in Ethiopia.
• Wilwal International Airport (JIJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Wilwal International Airport (JIJ) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Wilwal International Airport (meaning Wilwal International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,302 miles (19,799 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Jijiga's original airfield is located northwest of the city center at 09°21′38″N 42°47′16″E / 9.36056°N 42.78778°E / 9.36056.
• By the 1990s, the Garaad Wiil-Waal Airport was one of 10 bases of the Ethiopian Air Force.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".