Nonstop flight route between Kitadaito, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Minot, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kitadaito Airport (KTD), Kitadaito, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,355 miles (or 10,228 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 Kitadaito Airport and Minot 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 Kitadaito Airport and Minot 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 Kitadaito Airport (KTD):

• In addition to being known as "Kitadaito Airport", other names for KTD include "北大東空港" and "Kitadaitō Kūkō".
• Kitadaito Airport was opened in 1971 as an emergency 760 meter airstrip, constructed of crushed coral by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands.
• Kitadaito Airport (KTD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kitadaito Airport's relatively low elevation of 71 feet, planes can take off or land at Kitadaito 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 furthest airport from Kitadaito Airport (KTD) is Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport (JOI), which is nearly antipodal to Kitadaito Airport (meaning Kitadaito Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,982 kilometers) away in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kitadaito Airport (KTD) is Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SSW of KTD.

Facts about Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• replaced by the 5th Bombardment Wing
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• A Semi Automatic Ground Environment facility was built and activated in June 1961.
• On 30 August 2007, a B-52 took off from Minot AFB carrying six cruise missiles with W-80 nuclear warheads to Barksdale AFB in northwest Louisiana.
• Originally opened in 1957 as an Air Defense Command base, Minot AFB became a major Strategic Air Command base in the early 1960s, with both nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles and manned bombers and aerial refueling aircraft.