Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Reus (near Tarragona), Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Reus Airport (REU), Reus (near Tarragona), Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,906 miles (or 7,896 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 Reus 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 Reus 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 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.
• 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 March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.

Facts about Reus Airport (REU):

• Reus Airport (REU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Reus Airport's relatively low elevation of 233 feet, planes can take off or land at Reus 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 Reus Airport (REU) is Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) ENE of REU.
• The bus timetables vary slightly throughout the year but the buses are coordinated to coincide with flight arrivals and departures.
• Reus Airport is located by the beaches of Costa Daurada, equidistant in relation to the town of Constantí and the city of Reus and approximately 7.5 km from the city of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain.
• In addition to being known as "Reus Airport", another name for REU is "Aeroport de Reus".
• The furthest airport from Reus Airport (REU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Reus Airport (meaning Reus Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,217 miles (19,661 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is a Ryanair base since October 2008 although for the winter 2009–2010 season Ryanair reduced the number of flights and destinations from Reus by a substantial amount.
• Reus Airport handled 971,166 passengers last year.
• In order to adapt Reus Airport to future air traffic demand, Aena Aeropuertos has carried out a series of improvements and extended its facilities.