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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Milano, Italy and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,964 miles (or 7,989 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 Milan Malpensa 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 Milan Malpensa 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 Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP):

• Taxis are available at the Arrivals of Terminal 1 & 2.
• Malpensa Airport official opening to commercial traffic took place on 21 November 1948 as "Aeroporto Città di Busto Arsizio", although Belgian national flag carrier Sabena had started flying to Brussels from here a year earlier.
• The furthest airport from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Milan Malpensa Airport (meaning Milan Malpensa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airfield has been associated with aviation for more than 100 years.
• Airport security services were transferred in 2000 from the Polizia di Stato to SEA which created an internal division called SEA Airport Security.
• In addition to being known as "Milan Malpensa Airport", another name for MXP is "Aeroporto di Milano-Malpensa "Città di Milano"".
• The closest airport to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of MXP.
• Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) has 2 runways.
• Malpensa was the 21st busiest airport in Europe in terms of passengers, handling 18,947,808 passengers in 2010 and 18,537,301 in 2012.
• Milan Malpensa Airport handled 18,537,301 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".