Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Xianyang, Shaanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), Xianyang, Shaanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,518 miles (or 10,490 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 Xi'an Xianyang 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 Xi'an Xianyang 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):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• 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.
• In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• On 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY):

• Xi'an Xianyang International Airport handled 23,420,654 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is La Unión Airport (LUI), which is nearly antipodal to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (meaning Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Unión Airport), and is located 12,412 miles (19,976 kilometers) away in La Unión, Honduras[disambiguation needed].
• The closest airport to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is Xi'an Xiguan Airport (SIA), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) ESE of XIY.
• Terminal 3 and the second runway were opened on 3 May 2012, increasing the airport's capacity to more than 33 million passengers a year.
• Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) has 2 runways.
• In 2012, the airport handled 23,420,654 passengers, making it the busiest airport in northwest China and the 8th busiest nationwide.
• In addition to being known as "Xi'an Xianyang International Airport", other names for XIY include "西安咸阳国际机场" and "Xī'ān Xiányáng Guójì Jīchǎng".