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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pisa International Airport (PSA), Pisa, Italy and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,118 miles (or 8,237 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 Pisa 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 Pisa 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 Pisa International Airport (PSA):

• The closest airport to Pisa International Airport (PSA) is Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) ENE of PSA.
• Pisa International Airport handled 4,494,915 passengers last year.
• Pisa International Airport (PSA) has 2 runways.
• Pisa International Airport, formerly Galileo Galilei Airport and San Giusto Airport is an airport located in Pisa, Italy.
• The airport had its own railway station with a service to and from Pisa Central railway station but this was closed on 15 December 2013 to allow construction work to begin on a new fully automatic connection to be known as the Pisa Mover to take passengers to Pisa Central – at the moment a direct bus makes the connection.
• Besides civilian operations, the airport is also used extensively by the Aeronautica Militare and is a base for, amongst others, the C-130 Hercules and C-27J Spartan transport aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Pisa International Airport (PSA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Pisa International Airport (meaning Pisa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,095 miles (19,465 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Pisa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Pisa 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.
• In addition to being known as "Pisa International Airport", another name for PSA is "Aeroporto Internazionale di Pisa".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.