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):

• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.

Facts about Akureyri Airport (AEY):

• Akureyri Airport (AEY) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In 2008, Norlandair was founded, which serves destinations in north-eastern Iceland in cooperation with Air Iceland and various charter flights to Greenland.
• 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.
• 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".
• Scheduled air travel to Akureyri started in 1928 when Flugfélag Íslands began flying on seaplanes to Reykjavík, landing on the fjord of Eyjafjörður near downtown Akureyri.
• Akureyri Airport is a single-runway international airport in Akureyri, Iceland located about 3 km south of the town center.