Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB), Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,682 miles (or 12,363 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 Mactan-Cebu 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 Mactan-Cebu 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".

Facts about Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB):

• Mactan-Cebu International Airport handled 6,050,564 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Mactan-Cebu International Airport", another name for CEB is "Tugpahanang Pangkalibutan sa Mactan-SugboPaliparang Pandaigdig ng Mactan-Cebu".
• The closest airport to Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) is Tagbilaran Airport (TAG), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) S of CEB.
• In the mid-1960s, the civilian airport was opened, to replace the Lahug Airport, which could no longer be expanded due to safety and physical problems.
• The furthest airport from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) is Piloto Osvaldo Marques Dias Airport (AFL), which is nearly antipodal to Mactan-Cebu International Airport (meaning Mactan-Cebu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Piloto Osvaldo Marques Dias Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Alta Floresta, Brazil.
• On August 20, 2008, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority announced that about 300 million Philippine pesos will be spent for the terminal expansion program to address the increasing volume of passenger traffic.
• Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mactan-Cebu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Mactan-Cebu 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.
• Ramzi Yousef was on board Flight 434 from Manila when he planted the bomb beneath a vacant seat.
• In 2010, the newly elected Philippine President, Benigno Aquino III selected Nigel Paul Villarete as the new General Manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Chief Executive Officer of MCIAA.