Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Geneva, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Geneva International Airport (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,845 miles (or 7,798 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Geneva International Airport, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Geneva International Airport. 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.

Facts about Geneva International Airport (GVA):

• The closest airport to Geneva International Airport (GVA) is Annemasse Aerodrome (QNJ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of GVA.
• Geneva International Airport (GVA) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Geneva International Airport (GVA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Geneva International Airport (meaning Geneva International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,227 miles (19,678 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Geneva International Airport handled 14,436,000 passengers last year.
• T2 is used during the winter charter season.
• In addition to being known as "Geneva International Airport", another name for GVA is "Aéroport international de GenèveGenève aéroport".
• In February 2014, the Tribune de Genève reported that delays of up to three years may occur, and that the cost might increase to up to 120 millions Swiss Francs.
• Despite there never being a regular Concorde service in Switzerland, the supersonic aircraft twice landed in Geneva.
• Geneva International Airport has extensive convention facilities and hosts an office of the International Air Transport Association and used to host the world headquarters of Airports Council International.
• The airport has a single concrete runway, which is the longest in Switzerland with a length of 3,900 m, and a smaller, parallel, grass runway for light aircraft.
• To provide for jet traffic, in 1960 the runway was extended to its current length of 3,900 m.