Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Lappeenranta, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Lappeenranta Airport (LPP), Lappeenranta, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,320 miles (or 6,952 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 Lappeenranta 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 Lappeenranta 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):

• 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.

Facts about Lappeenranta Airport (LPP):

• Because of Lappeenranta Airport's relatively low elevation of 349 feet, planes can take off or land at Lappeenranta 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.
• The reason for the passenger decline from 2006 to 2009 was mainly the opening of the new railway shortcut Lahti–Kerava in September 2006.
• Lappeenranta Airport handled 98,300 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,877 miles (17,505 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) is Utti Airport (UTI), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) WSW of LPP.
• In addition to being known as "Lappeenranta Airport", another name for LPP is "Lappeenrannan lentoasema".
• Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) currently has only 1 runway.