Nonstop flight route between Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tenerife-South Airport (TFS), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,735 miles (or 7,620 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 Tenerife-South 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 Tenerife-South 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 Tenerife-South Airport (TFS):

• In addition to being known as "Tenerife-South Airport", other names for TFS include "Aeropuerto de Tenerife Sur" and "Tenerife Sur/Reina Sofía Airport".
• Because of Tenerife-South Airport's relatively low elevation of 209 feet, planes can take off or land at Tenerife-South 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 Tenerife-South Airport (TFS) is Tenerife North Airport (TFN), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NNE of TFS.
• The furthest airport from Tenerife-South Airport (TFS) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to Tenerife-South Airport (meaning Tenerife-South Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,154 miles (19,561 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• Tenerife-South Airport (TFS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1977, the control tower, terminal building and taxiways were completed before the world's worst aviation accident occurred at Tenerife North Airport in March.
• Tenerife-South Airport handled 8,701,983 passengers last year.

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.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a geographically separated unit that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".