Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Clermont-Ferrand, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE), Clermont-Ferrand, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,385 miles (or 7,057 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 Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne 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 Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne 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):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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 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.
• 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 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.

Facts about Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE):

• The closest airport to Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE) is Montluçon - Guéret Airport (MCU), which is located 49 miles (79 kilometers) NW of CFE.
• Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (meaning Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,299 miles (19,793 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 2013, Ryanair started flights to Brussels South Charleroi and Porto.
• In addition to being known as "Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport", another name for CFE is "Aéroport de Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne".