Nonstop flight route between Bintulu, Malaysia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bintulu Airport (BTU), Bintulu, Malaysia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,481 miles (or 13,649 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 Bintulu 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 Bintulu 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 Bintulu Airport (BTU):

• In September 2005, first low-cost airline in Malaysia, AirAsia started operating in Bintulu airport.
• Bintulu old airport was open for operation on 1 September 1955, with a grass-surface runway catering for de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide and Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer aircraft operated by Borneo Airways.
• Because of Bintulu Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at Bintulu 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.
• Bintulu Airport (BTU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Bintulu Airport (BTU) is Belaga Airport (BLG), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) ESE of BTU.
• The furthest airport from Bintulu Airport (BTU) is Carauari Airport (CAF), which is nearly antipodal to Bintulu Airport (meaning Bintulu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carauari Airport), and is located 12,315 miles (19,820 kilometers) away in Carauari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Bintulu Airport", other names for BTU include "Lapangan Terbang Bintulu" and "民都鲁机场".
• Bintulu Airport handled 779,774 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".