Nonstop flight route between Arequipa, Peru and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP), Arequipa, Peru and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,627 miles (or 7,447 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 Rodríguez Ballón International 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 Rodríguez Ballón International 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 Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP):

• The closest airport to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) is Ilo Airport (ILQ), which is located 95 miles (153 kilometers) S of AQP.
• Rodríguez Ballón International Airport, known as Aeropuerto Internacional Rodríguez Ballón in Spanish, is an airport serving Peru's second largest city, Arequipa.
• Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) is Đà Nẵng International Airport (DAD), which is nearly antipodal to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (meaning Rodríguez Ballón International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Đà Nẵng International Airport), and is located 12,412 miles (19,975 kilometers) away in Da Nang, Vietnam.
• Because of Rodríguez Ballón International Airport's high elevation of 8,405 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AQP. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AQP a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.