Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Batam, Riau Islands, Sumatra, Indonesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH), Batam, Riau Islands, Sumatra, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,807 miles (or 14,174 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 Hang Nadim International 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 Hang Nadim International 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 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.
• 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.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• In May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".

Facts about Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH):

• At end of May 2014, Hang Nadim International Airport accompanied with the previous five, Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali.
• The closest airport to Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH) is Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NNW of BTH.
• The furthest airport from Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH) is Francisco de Orellana Airport (OCC), which is nearly antipodal to Hang Nadim International Airport (meaning Hang Nadim International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Francisco de Orellana Airport), and is located 12,348 miles (19,872 kilometers) away in Coca, Ecuador.
• Starting 2016, BP Batam and investors from Korea will start building a monorail from Hang Nadim International Airport to Batu Ampar for about 29 km.
• Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hang Nadim International Airport", other names for BTH include "Bandar Udara Internasional Hang Nadim" and "WIKB".
• Because of Hang Nadim International Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Hang Nadim 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.