Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Palma de Mallorca, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI), Palma de Mallorca, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,042 miles (or 8,115 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 Palma de Mallorca 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 Palma de Mallorca 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.

Facts about Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI):

• Palma de Mallorca Airport occupies an area of 6.3 km2.
• Palma de Mallorca Airport handled 22,768,082 passengers last year.
• Located in the south.
• In addition to being known as "Palma de Mallorca Airport", another name for PMI is "Aeroport de Palma de Mallorca Aeropuerto de Palma de Mallorca".
• Because of Palma de Mallorca Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Palma de Mallorca 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.
• The closest airport to Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) is Menorca Airport (MAH), which is located 82 miles (131 kilometers) ENE of PMI.
• The furthest airport from Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) is Gisborne Airport (GIS), which is nearly antipodal to Palma de Mallorca Airport (meaning Palma de Mallorca Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gisborne Airport), and is located 12,174 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in Gisborne, New Zealand.
• After reaching 1 million passengers for the first time in 1962, in 1965, a new terminal was constructed, and air navigation services were completed at the end of the following year.
• Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) has 2 runways.
• Following a decline in passenger numbers at the airport following the September 11 attacks in 2001, numbers rose steadily between 2002 and 2007 when traffic peaked at 23.2 million passengers, however from 2007 there has been a decline in passenger numbers with 21.1 million using the airport in 2010.
• Today, Palma de Mallorca airport carries over 20 million passengers to their destinations, particularly to mainland Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.