Nonstop flight route between Katowice / Pyrzowice, Poland and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Katowice International Airport (KTW), Katowice / Pyrzowice, Poland and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,663 miles (or 7,505 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 Katowice 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 Katowice 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 Katowice International Airport (KTW):

• Katowice International Airport is an international airport, located in Pyrzowice, 30 km north of center of Katowice, Poland.
• Katowice International Airport (KTW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Katowice International Airport (KTW) is John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SE of KTW.
• The airbase Pyrzowice was for the first time made available for passenger traffic on 6 October 1966, when the first plane of LOT Polish Airlines, taking off for Warsaw.
• The furthest airport from Katowice International Airport (KTW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,576 miles (18,630 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Katowice International Airport's relatively low elevation of 304 feet, planes can take off or land at Katowice 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 airports concrete runway is 2,800 by 60 m and can accommodate aircraft as large as Boeing 747 or Boeing 777, albeit not at Maximum Takeoff Weight.
• In addition to being known as "Katowice International Airport", other names for KTW include "Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy Katowice" and "Katowice".

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.
• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.