Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Nairobi, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Nairobi, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,598 miles (or 13,837 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 Jomo Kenyatta 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 Jomo Kenyatta 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):

• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO):

• The furthest airport from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,621 miles (18,703 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• On 5 August 2013, an airlock in the main pipeline that delivers jet fuel to the airport caused all inbound flights to the airport to be diverted to other airfields.
• Because of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NBO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NBO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In November 2012, KAA announced that Units 1, 2, and 3 would be renovated at a cost of 7.9 billion Kenyan shillings.
• The closest airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Wilson Airport (WIL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) W of NBO.
• The groundbreaking of a new passenger terminal dubbed the "Greenfield Terminal" with a capacity of 20 million passengers was held on 3 December 2013.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport handled 580,363 passengers last year.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) currently has only 1 runway.