Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,220 miles (or 3,574 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 relatively short distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.

Facts about Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC):

• The closest airport to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of ANC.
• Because of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport's relatively low elevation of 152 feet, planes can take off or land at Ted Stevens Anchorage 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.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport handled 4,976,557 passengers last year.
• In the 1990s, Alaska Airlines and Aeroflot operated service from Anchorage to several destinations in the Russian Far East, including Khabarovsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,548 miles (16,975 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• A shuttle bus runs approximately every 15 minutes between the North and South terminals and the employee and long-term parking lots.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 2,599,313 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,282,666 enplanements in 2009, and 2,342,310 in 2010.