Nonstop flight route between Lakselv, Norway and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), Lakselv, Norway and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,789 miles (or 6,097 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL):

• Interest in Banak rose with the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 and fears of Soviet intervention in Norway.
• In addition to being known as "Lakselv Airport, Banak", another name for LKL is "Lakselv lufthavn, Banak".
• The furthest airport from Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,476 miles (16,859 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Lakselv Airport, Banak handled 71,763 passengers last year.
• SAS Commuter was established in 1988 and started operations in Northern Norway in May 1990, making Alta its central hub for Finnmark.
• The closest airport to Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL) is Alta Airport (ALF), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) W of LKL.
• Because of Lakselv Airport, Banak's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Lakselv Airport, Banak 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.
• Lakselv Airport, Banak is an international airport located at Banak, 1.5 kilometers north of Lakselv, in the municipality of Porsanger, Finnmark county, Norway.
• To allow increased military use of the air station, the airport received an upgrade in 1967 and 1968 costing NOK 17.8 million.
• An airport at Lakselv was first proposed out of military considerations.
• Lakselv Airport is equipped with a cafe and a duty-free shop.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• 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.