Nonstop flight route between Aalesund, Norway and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES), Aalesund, Norway and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,102 miles (or 6,602 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES):

• The closest airport to Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) S of AES.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra is an airport which serves the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway and the surrounding regions of Sunnmøre, Nordfjord and Romsdal.
• The airport is at an elevation of 70 feet above mean sea level.
• Bus services leave for the town centre and outer town areas every 30 minutes.
• Before 1998, the airport was served by one airline, Braathens SAFE, at times with regional routes being by Norwegian Air Shuttle on behalf of Braathens.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) currently has only 1 runway.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra handled 1,077,209 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,147 miles (17,940 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Ålesund Airport, Vigra", another name for AES is "Ålesund lufthavn, Vigra".
• The current terminal was opened along with an extended runway in 1986, along with new underwater road tunnels to the main city of Ålesund.
• Braathens to Oslo-Fornebu, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger, Bergen, Bodø and Trondheim
• Because of Ålesund Airport, Vigra's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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.
• Scandinavian Airlines to Oslo-Fornebu, London Gatwick

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.