Nonstop flight route between Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ), Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,090 miles (or 6,582 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 Aberdeen International Airport and Ellsworth 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 Aberdeen International Airport and Ellsworth 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 Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ):

• Aberdeen International Airport handled 3,440,765 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Aberdeen International Airport", other names for ABZ include "Aberdeen/Dyce Airport" and "Port-adhair Obar Dheathain".
• Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the discovery of North Sea oil, helicopter operations began in 1967, linking the growing number of oil rigs to the mainland.
• The furthest airport from Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,616 miles (18,694 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The airport has one main passenger terminal, serving scheduled and charter holiday flights.
• The closest airport to Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) is RAF Lossiemouth (LMO), which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) NW of ABZ.
• Because of Aberdeen International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Aberdeen 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.
• A Spitfire IIa crashed at the east side of the airfield on 19 November 1941 during attack practice with a target glider being towed.
• Aberdeen Airport has now begun work on a £10 million construction project to attract more international routes.
• BAA predicts passenger numbers at Aberdeen will rise to 5.9 million by 2030, and says the expansion will create more than 1,200 jobs at the airport and many more across Scotland.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• The furthest airport from Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,579 miles (17,026 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• The closest airport to Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of RCA.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.