Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Akureyri, Iceland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Akureyri Airport (AEY), Akureyri, Iceland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,992 miles (or 4,815 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 Akureyri 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 Akureyri 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):

• 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 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• 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.

Facts about Akureyri Airport (AEY):

• Because of Akureyri Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Akureyri 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.
• In 1973, Loftleiðir and Flugfélag Íslands merged into Icelandair.
• Akureyri Airport (AEY) currently has only 1 runway.
• In the summer of 2009, Isavia completed an almost two year runway renovation program.
• In 2006 Mýflug, under a contract with the Icelandic government, began providing ambulance flight service to Iceland, with a specially equipped aircraft based at Akureyri airport.
• The furthest airport from Akureyri Airport (AEY) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,121 miles (17,897 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Akureyri Airport (AEY) is Húsavík Airport (HZK), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NE of AEY.
• In addition to being known as "Akureyri Airport", another name for AEY is "Akureyrarflugvöllur".
• Furthermore there are occasional charter flights.