Nonstop flight route between Rhine, Germany and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ), Rhine, Germany and Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,216 miles (or 6,785 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base and Grand Forks 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base and Grand Forks 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ):

• In 2004, after a further restructuring of the Bundeswehr, during which a large number of bases were closed, Army Aviation Medium Transport Regiment 15 was given the honorary name Münsterland, this being the result of the German Army's continuing commitment to the base at the time.
• Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Münster Osnabrück International Airport (FMO), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SE of ZPQ.
• Since unification of Germany in 1990, units from Rheine were deployed in as various part as the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan under the auspices of either NATO, the UN or the EU.
• Since then helicopters from Rheine saw action in as different places as Italy, Greece and the Pyrenees mainly by offering help and logistic support after natural disasters.
• In October 2011 the German Federal Ministry of Defence announced a reorganisation/reduction of the German Armed Forces.
• Because of Rheine-Bentlage Air Base's relatively low elevation of 128 feet, planes can take off or land at Rheine-Bentlage Air Base 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.
• Since 1960 various units of the German Army Aviation Corps have been stationed at Rheine Air Base.
• The furthest airport from Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,825 miles (19,030 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1939 works to build an air base for the Luftwaffe began.
• In addition to being known as "Rheine-Bentlage Air Base", another name for ZPQ is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-108)".

Facts about Grand Forks International Airport (GFK):

• Because of Grand Forks International Airport's relatively low elevation of 845 feet, planes can take off or land at Grand Forks 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.
• The now closed original passenger terminal at GFK was built in 1964.
• Most operations at GFK is from the University of North Dakota.
• Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) has 4 runways.
• A unique attribute of KGFK is that it is the University of North Dakota’s Aerospace program.
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,514 miles (16,921 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On November 9, 2010 KGFK had 100,570 boardings, one more than the record achieved in 12 months in 1994.
• The closest airport to Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) is Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) W of GFK.