Nonstop flight route between Xining, Qinghai, China and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN), Xining, Qinghai, China and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,477 miles (or 10,424 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 Xining Caojiabao 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 Xining Caojiabao 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 Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN):

• The furthest airport from Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Xining Caojiabao Airport (meaning Xining Caojiabao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) is Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW), which is located 88 miles (141 kilometers) E of XNN.
• In addition to being known as "Xining Caojiabao Airport", other names for XNN include "西宁曹家堡机场" and "Xīníng Cáojiābǎo Jīchǎng".
• Xining Caojiabao Airport handled 2,030,378 passengers last year.
• Because of Xining Caojiabao Airport's high elevation of 7,119 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at XNN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make XNN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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.
• 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.