Nonstop flight route between Sumbawanga, Tanzania and Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sumbawanga Airport (SUT), Sumbawanga, Tanzania and Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,956 miles (or 12,805 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 Sumbawanga Airport and Gerald R. Ford 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 Sumbawanga Airport and Gerald R. Ford 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 Sumbawanga Airport (SUT):

• Because of Sumbawanga Airport's high elevation of 5,920 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SUT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SUT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Sumbawanga Airport", another name for SUT is "Uwanja wa Ndege wa Sumbawanga  (Swahili)".
• The closest airport to Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) is Mbala Airport (MMQ), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) SSW of SUT.
• Sumbawanga Airport handled 806 passengers last year.
• Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,695 miles (18,822 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR):

• The first scheduled air service in the United States was between Grand Rapids and Detroit on a Ford-Stout monoplane named Miss Grand Rapids, which started July 26, 1926.
• The closest airport to Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Park Township Airport (HLM), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) W of GRR.
• 81,221,489 pounds of air freight were handled in 2012, representing an increase of 0.6% over the previous year.
• The furthest airport from Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,165 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Gerald R. Ford International Airport's relatively low elevation of 794 feet, planes can take off or land at Gerald R. Ford 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.
• An outdoor viewing area on Kraft Avenue north of 52nd Street has picnic tables, litter barrels, and a portable toilet.
• Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) has 3 runways.
• In 1997 the new 8,500-foot runway 17/35 was added to allow the airport to continue operations during the $32 million reconstruction of runway 8R/26L, completed in 2001.
• In January 2012 Southwest Airlines announced it would continue Airtran flights to Grand Rapids and eventually transfer them to Southwest.