Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Punta Raisi (near Palermo), Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO), Punta Raisi (near Palermo), Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,117 miles (or 8,234 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 Falcone–Borsellino 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 Falcone–Borsellino 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 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO):

• As airport management company, GESAP plans, creates and manages the airport's areas, infrastructures and systems, ensuring the necessary maintenance and implementation of the same.
• Falcone–Borsellino Airport handled 4,349,672 passengers last year.
• Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,805 miles (18,999 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Today, after having recently transferred its handling sector to a controlled company, GH Palermo, GESAP is awaiting a ministerial decree that will grant it a forty-year concession for the total management of the airport.
• The airport was given the name Falcone–Borsellino in memory of the two leading anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino who were murdered by the mafia in 1992.
• The closest airport to Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) is Vincenzo Florio Airport Trapani-Birgi (TPS), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) WSW of PMO.
• In April 1999, GESAP obtained an anticipated mandate to manage the airport's air side activities, and, more specifically, the flight infrastructure as foreseen by art.
• In April 2004, GESAP was awarded UNI ISO 9001/2000 certification.
• In addition to being known as "Falcone–Borsellino Airport", another name for PMO is "Aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino".
• Because of Falcone–Borsellino Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Falcone–Borsellino 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.