Nonstop flight route between Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX), Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,436 miles (or 11,967 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 Alula Aba Nega 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 Alula Aba Nega 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 Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX):

• This airport was built in the late 1990s to replace an older one located 7 km from Mek'ele.
• The furthest airport from Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Fangatau Airport (FGU), which is nearly antipodal to Alula Aba Nega Airport (meaning Alula Aba Nega Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fangatau Airport), and is located 12,272 miles (19,750 kilometers) away in Fangatau, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) NW of MQX.
• Alula Aba Nega Airport handled 112,060 passengers last year.
• Because of Alula Aba Nega Airport's high elevation of 7,406 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MQX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MQX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Alula Aba Nega Airport", another name for MQX is "አሉላ አባ ነጋ ዓለም አቀፍ የአየር ማረፊያ".
• Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) currently has only 1 runway.

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".
• In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.