Nonstop flight route between Minot, North Dakota, United States and Songpan County, Sichuan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States and Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH), Songpan County, Sichuan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,612 miles (or 10,642 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 Jiuzhai Huanglong 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 Jiuzhai Huanglong 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):

• Command of Minot AFB passed from Air Defense Command to SAC in July 1962 as the base's primary mission changed from air defense to strategic deterrence.
• On 1 February 1963, SAC, as part of a conversion to unit designations with historical significance, activated the 450th Bombardment Wing at Minot and the 720th Bombardment Squadron, along with the formation of the 450th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron, 450th Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 450th Field Maintenance Squadron, and the 450th Organizational Maintenance Squadron simultaneously.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• Following the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81, SAC tasked the former 57th Air Division to organize the Strategic Projection Force.
• The 91st Missile Wing of the Global Strike Command is responsible for maintaining the Minuteman III nuclear missiles, located in three main fields to the north, west, and south of the base.
• 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.
• A Semi Automatic Ground Environment facility was built and activated in June 1961.

Facts about Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH):

• Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport is about 240 km from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, an aviation hub of Southwest China.
• As of April 2012, the airport is served by the following airlines.
• Because of Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport's high elevation of 11,312 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JZH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JZH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is nearly antipodal to Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (meaning Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Viña del Mar Airport), and is located 12,156 miles (19,563 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport (JZH) is Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), which is located 116 miles (187 kilometers) SSE of JZH.
• In addition to being known as "Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport", other names for JZH include "九寨黄龙机场" and "Jiǔzhài Huánglóng Jīchǎng".