Nonstop flight route between Kuopio / Siilinjärvi, Finland and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kuopio Airport (KUO), Kuopio / Siilinjärvi, Finland and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,206 miles (or 6,770 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 Kuopio 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 Kuopio 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 Kuopio Airport (KUO):

• Kuopio Airport handled 253,612 passengers last year.
• Kuopio Airport (KUO) currently has only 1 runway.
• A unique airport Lake terminal was completed in March 2008.
• Because of Kuopio Airport's relatively low elevation of 323 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuopio 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.
• Kuopio Airport was completed in November 1939 and flight operations started in May 1940.
• The closest airport to Kuopio Airport (KUO) is Varkaus Airport (VRK), which is located 58 miles (93 kilometers) S of KUO.
• The furthest airport from Kuopio Airport (KUO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,797 miles (17,377 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Kuopio Airport", another name for KUO is "Kuopion lentoasema".

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• 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.