Nonstop flight route between Minot, North Dakota, United States and Gyumri, Armenia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States and Shirak International Airport (LWN), Gyumri, Armenia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,920 miles (or 9,527 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 Shirak International 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 Shirak International 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• The 810th Strategic Aerospace Division was inactivated 30 June 1971.
• 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".
• 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.
• Construction of Minot AFB began in May 1956 and it officially opened on 10 January 1957, named for the nearby city of Minot.
• 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.
• On 30 August 2007, a B-52 took off from Minot AFB carrying six cruise missiles with W-80 nuclear warheads to Barksdale AFB in northwest Louisiana.
• 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.

Facts about Shirak International Airport (LWN):

• The closest airport to Shirak International Airport (LWN) is Kars Airport (KSY), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) WSW of LWN.
• Because of Shirak International Airport's high elevation of 5,000 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LWN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LWN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Shirak International Airport (LWN) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,214 miles (18,047 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Shirak International Airport (LWN) currently has only 1 runway.
• At the start of 2006, Armenia felt the importance of having a second international airport, when adverse weather conditions meant that many flights had to be diverted from Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport into Gyumri’s Shirak Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Shirak International Airport", another name for LWN is "Շիրակ Օդանավակայան".