Nonstop flight route between Medina, Saudi Arabia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), Medina, Saudi Arabia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,138 miles (or 11,488 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED):

• As with other regional airports in Saudi Arabia, it is modestly equipped with a simple, single-story terminal and a small parking apron.
• The closest airport to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Yanbu International Airport (YNB), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) WSW of MED.
• The furthest airport from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (meaning Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• On 5 January 2014, a Saudia Boeing 767-300, flight SV2841 from Mashhad, Iran made an emergency landing after one of its main landing gear failed to deploy.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) has 2 runways.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport handled 1,592,000 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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".
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.