Nonstop flight route between Minot, North Dakota, United States and Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States and Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport (AXF), Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,186 miles (or 9,956 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 Minot Air Force Base and Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport, 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 Minot Air Force Base and Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport. 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 Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• The scope of operations grew as the Air Force transferred the 525th Bombardment Squadron from the 19th Bombardment Wing at Homestead AFB, Florida, on 8 March 1961, followed by the first B-52H Stratofortress on 10 July 1961, nicknamed "Peace Persuader".
• 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.
• Construction of Minot AFB began in May 1956 and it officially opened on 10 January 1957, named for the nearby city of Minot.
• Additionally on 12 July 2008, three Air Force officers fell asleep while in control of an electronic component that contained old launch codes for nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, a violation of procedure, Air Force officials said.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• The 4th Post Attack Command & Control Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD maintained several EC-135 "Looking Glass" Aircraft on an alert at MAFB for coverage of the missile squadrons as a secondary Launch Control Center.

Facts about Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport (AXF):

• In addition to being known as "Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport", another name for AXF is "阿拉善左旗巴彦浩特机场".
• The closest airport to Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport (AXF) is Yinchuan Hedong International Airport (INC), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SE of AXF.
• The furthest airport from Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport (AXF) is Pichoy Airport (ZAL), which is nearly antipodal to Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport (meaning Alxa Left Banner Bayanhot Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pichoy Airport), and is located 12,347 miles (19,871 kilometers) away in Valdivia, Chile.