Nonstop flight route between Birjand, Iran and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Birjand International Airport (XBJ), Birjand, Iran and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,666 miles (or 10,728 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 Birjand International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base, 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 Birjand International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base. 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 Birjand International Airport (XBJ):

• The furthest airport from Birjand International Airport (XBJ) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,653 miles (18,754 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Birjand Airport has since opened a second passenger terminal to for the increasing number of passengers.
• Birjand airport was established in 1933, beginning with small aircraft.
• Birjand International Airport (XBJ) has 2 runways.
• Because of Birjand International Airport's high elevation of 4,952 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at XBJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make XBJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Birjand International Airport (XBJ) is Tabas Airport (TCX), which is located 147 miles (237 kilometers) WNW of XBJ.
• In addition to being known as "Birjand International Airport", another name for XBJ is "فرودگاه بین المللی بیرجند".

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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• 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.
• On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.