Nonstop flight route between Rotterdam, Netherlands and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM), Rotterdam, Netherlands and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,522 miles (or 7,278 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 Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, 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 Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. 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 Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM):

• Construction of the airport began in August 1955 and the airport was officially opened in October 1956.
• Rotterdam The Hague Airport handled 159,014 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,872 miles (19,107 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Rotterdam The Hague Airport's relatively low elevation of -14 feet, planes can take off or land at Rotterdam The Hague 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.
• Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) is Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID), which is located only 15 miles (23 kilometers) N of RTM.
• The route with the longest continual service, to London Heathrow and operated by KLM Cityhopper, was suspended in 2008.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent 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.
• 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's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.