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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lalibela Airport (LLI), Lalibela, Ethiopia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,887 miles (or 12,693 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 Lalibela 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 Lalibela 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 Lalibela Airport (LLI):

• The furthest airport from Lalibela Airport (LLI) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Lalibela Airport (meaning Lalibela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,233 miles (19,687 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Because of Lalibela Airport's high elevation of 6,424 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LLI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LLI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• On 14 March 1975, Douglas C-47 ET-ABR of Ethiopian Airlines was destroyed on the ground during a clash with rebels.
• Lalibela Airport (LLI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Lalibela Airport resides at an elevation of 1,958 metres above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Lalibela Airport (LLI) is Debre Tabor Airport (DBT), which is located 67 miles (107 kilometers) W of LLI.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.