Nonstop flight route between Haikou, Hainan, China and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK), Haikou, Hainan, China and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,528 miles (or 12,115 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 Haikou Meilan 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 Haikou Meilan 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 Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK):

• Haikou Meilan International Airport handled 10,167,818 passengers last year.
• Because of Haikou Meilan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Haikou Meilan 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.
• Haikou Meilan International Airport is the airport serving Haikou, the capital of Hainan Province, China.
• Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Haikou Meilan International Airport", other names for HAK include "海口美兰国际机场", "Hǎikǒu Měilán Guójì Jīchǎng" and "ZJHK[1]".
• The furthest airport from Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) is Diego Aracena International Airport (IQQ), which is nearly antipodal to Haikou Meilan International Airport (meaning Haikou Meilan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Diego Aracena International Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,921 kilometers) away in Iquique, Chile.
• The closest airport to Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) is Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) N of HAK.
• A new, international terminal opened on August 14, 2013.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a geographically separated unit that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
• 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.