Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Montpellier, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), Montpellier, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,896 miles (or 7,880 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 Montpellier–Méditerranée 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 Montpellier–Méditerranée 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.

Facts about Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL):

• The closest airport to Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL) is Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ENE of MPL.
• In addition to being known as "Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport", another name for MPL is "Aéroport de Montpellier–Méditerranée".
• The furthest airport from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (meaning Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Montpellier–Méditerranée 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.
• Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL) has 2 runways.