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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,749 miles (or 7,643 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 Rapid City Regional Airport and Frankfurt 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 Rapid City Regional Airport and Frankfurt 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 Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP):

• The closest airport to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) N of RAP.
• The furthest airport from Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,585 miles (17,035 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) has 2 runways.
• The terminal building opened in 1988.

Facts about Frankfurt Airport (FRA):

• The center line separation from the existing north runway is about 1,400 meters.
• Frankfurt Airport handled 5,752,725 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,946 miles (19,225 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• To handle the predicted passenger amount of about 90 million in 2020, a new terminal section adjacent to Terminal 1 for an additional six million passengers opened on 10 October 2012.
• Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has 3 runways.
• After the beginning of World War II in 1939 all foreign airlines left the airport and control of air traffic was transferred to the Luftwaffe.
• The closest airport to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of FRA.
• The new terminal, called Terminal Mitte and divided into three concourses with 56 gates and an electric baggage handling system, was opened to the public on 14 March 1972.
• In addition to being known as "Frankfurt Airport", another name for FRA is "Flughafen Frankfurt am Main".
• Because of Frankfurt Airport's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Frankfurt 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.
• Planning for a third runway began in 1973.
• The runway officially went into operation on 20 October 2011, with an aircraft carrying Chancellor Angela Merkel performing the first landing on 21 October.