Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Carcassonne, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Carcassonne Airport (CCF), Carcassonne, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,475 miles (or 7,202 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 Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne 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.
• The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• 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 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".
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.

Facts about Carcassonne Airport (CCF):

• The furthest airport from Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Carcassonne Airport (meaning Carcassonne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) N of CCF.
• In addition to being known as "Carcassonne Airport", another name for CCF is "Aéroport de Carcassonne".
• Carcassonne Airport (CCF) has 2 runways.
• In the late 1990s the airport started taking budget flights to and from European airports and in 2006 had regular flight connections with Dublin, Shannon, Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands and Charleroi.
• Because of Carcassonne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Carcassonne 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 2011, the airport served 368,000 passengers.