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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), Gibraltar and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,875 miles (or 7,845 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 Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar International Airport (GIB):

• It was announced in January 2014 that an air route between Gibraltar and Marrakech would be established and launched in April.
• On 18 May 2011, Bmibaby announced that it would launch flights from Gibraltar to East Midlands from 31 March 2012.
• The closest airport to Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Ceuta Heliport (JCU), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) S of GIB.
• The furthest airport from Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Gibraltar International Airport (meaning Gibraltar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Since then, Spain successfully excluded Gibraltar from European wide de-regulation initiatives, preventing direct links from Gibraltar to the rest of the European Union, on the grounds that no regulation that somehow recognises the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over the Gibraltar peninsula may be implemented without a previous agreement on the airport.
• Gibraltar International Airport handled 383,013 passengers last year.
• In 2004 the airport handled 314,375 passengers and 380 tonnes of cargo.
• Because of Gibraltar International Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Gibraltar 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.
• Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Gibraltar International Airport", another name for GIB is "(North Front Airport)".
• Because of this, a new four-lane diversion road and tunnel section was planned.
• Spain's continuing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the territory where the airport stands has seriously affected the airport's operations.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.