Nonstop flight route between Norfolk Island, Australia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), Norfolk Island, Australia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,883 miles (or 12,686 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 Norfolk Island 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 Norfolk Island 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 Norfolk Island Airport (NLK):

• Norfolk Island is an important transit and refueling point for light aircraft flying between Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
• In addition to being known as "Norfolk Island Airport", another name for NLK is "YSNF".
• The closest airport to Norfolk Island Airport (NLK) is Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA), which is located 478 miles (769 kilometers) NNW of NLK.
• Norfolk Island Airport (NLK) has 2 runways.
• Norfolk Island Airport was ranked 56th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.
• Because of Norfolk Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 371 feet, planes can take off or land at Norfolk Island Airport 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.
• Norfolk Island Airport handled 57,758 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Norfolk Island Airport (NLK) is Tan Tan Airport (TTA), which is nearly antipodal to Norfolk Island Airport (meaning Norfolk Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tan Tan Airport), and is located 12,369 miles (19,905 kilometers) away in Tan-Tan, Morocco.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
• 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.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.