Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,899 miles (or 7,884 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 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 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.

Facts about Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO):

• Ground handling services were provided by Aeroporti di Roma until 1999, when it created Aeroporti di Roma Handling.
• Leonardo da Vinci is about 35 km by car from Rome's historic city centre.
• Since 2005 the airport operates a category III B instrument landing system.
• In addition to being known as "Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport", another name for FCO is "Fiumicino – Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci".
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport handled 36,166,345 passengers last year.
• Because of Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) has 4 runways.
• The airport was officially opened on 15 January 1961, with two runways, replacing the smaller Rome Ciampino Airport, which remains in service for some low cost airlines as well as domestic and charter operations.
• The furthest airport from Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) E of FCO.