Nonstop flight route between Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (PKU), Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,905 miles (or 14,331 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 Sultan Syarif Kasim II International 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 Sultan Syarif Kasim II International 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 Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (PKU):

• Because of Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport's relatively low elevation of 104 feet, planes can take off or land at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International 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.
• On 16 July 2012, a Rp 2 trillion new terminal has been opened to accommodate 1.5 million passengers a year and serve 8 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft and 2 Boeing 747 jumbo jets at the same time.
• Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport handled 392,399 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (PKU) is Pinang Kampai Airport (DUM), which is located 79 miles (128 kilometers) N of PKU.
• The airport is also a Type B airbase of the TNI-AU, homebase of the 12th Squadron, a shelter to some Hawk Mk.109s and Mk.209s.
• Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (PKU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (PKU) is Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO), which is nearly antipodal to Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (meaning Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mariscal Sucre International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,971 kilometers) away in Quito, Ecuador.
• In 2012, the airport's VIP room was awarded as the best VIP Room by PT Angkasa Pura II.
• In early 2010, the first phase of the airport's expansion started with the construction of a new terminal to replace the 1980s built terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport", other names for PKU include "Bandar Udara Internasional Sultan Syarif Kasim II" and "بندر اودارا اينترنسيونل سلطان شريف قاسم ٢".

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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.