Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Zweibrücken, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW), Zweibrücken, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,746 miles (or 7,638 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 Zweibrücken 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 Zweibrücken 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.

Facts about Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW):

• The closest airport to Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) is Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) W of ZQW.
• The furthest airport from Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zweibrücken Airport (meaning Zweibrücken Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,021 miles (19,346 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Zweibrücken Airport", another name for ZQW is "Flughafen Zweibrücken".
• Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2006, Germanwings began a new twice-daily service to Berlin Schönefeld Airport, but ceased them in 2011 due to expensive airports taxes.
• Zweibrücken Airport handled 220,740 passengers last year.
• Zweibrücken Airport is located on the site of the former Zweibrücken Air Base which was shut down in 1991.
• A twice per week service was also operated between Zweibrücken and Antalya by Sky Airlines until the airline ceased operations due to financial problems in 2013.