Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ardabil, Iran:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ardabil Airport (ADU), Ardabil, Iran would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,116 miles (or 9,842 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 Ardabil 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 Ardabil 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):

• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.

Facts about Ardabil Airport (ADU):

• The furthest airport from Ardabil Airport (ADU) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,366 miles (18,291 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Ardabil Airport (ADU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ardabil Airport (ADU) is Lankaran International Airport (LLK), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) NE of ADU.
• Because of Ardabil Airport's high elevation of 4,315 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ADU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ADU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.