Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,083 miles (or 11,399 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Al-Baha Domestic 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Al-Baha Domestic 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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.
• 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 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 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• 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.

Facts about Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT):

• In addition to being known as "Al-Baha Domestic Airport", another name for ABT is "مطار الباحة المحلي".
• The furthest airport from Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (meaning Al-Baha Domestic Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• Because of Al-Baha Domestic Airport's high elevation of 5,486 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ABT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ABT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Bisha Domestic Airport (BHH), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) ESE of ABT.