Nonstop flight route between Ust-Kut, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ust-Kut Airport (UKX), Ust-Kut, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,261 miles (or 8,467 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 Ust-Kut 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 Ust-Kut 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 Ust-Kut Airport (UKX):

• The closest airport to Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) is Kirensk Airport (KCK), which is located 108 miles (173 kilometers) NE of UKX.
• The furthest airport from Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) is Ushuaia International Airport (USH), which is nearly antipodal to Ust-Kut Airport (meaning Ust-Kut Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ushuaia International Airport), and is located 12,167 miles (19,580 kilometers) away in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
• New airport construction began in 1963, about 12 km north of Ust-Kut on top of a hill.
• Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Ust-Kut Airport handled 24,291 passengers last year.
• In 2007 a controlling stake in "JSC "Aeroport Ust-Kut"".  has acquired the airline "UTair" planning to use it as their main base in Eastern Siberia.
• Reconstruction plan for the airport is included in the federal program of revival of significant airports, but in 2009 the airport "Ust-Kut" is "not necessarily important for the partners." Despite this, according to the General Director of JSC "Ust-Kut Airport" by Yuri Samorokov, it is expected that full-scale reconstruction would still be carried out in 2015.
• Economic prospects are directly linked to the prospects of development of large oilfields and operation of Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.
• In addition to being known as "Ust-Kut Airport", another name for UKX is "Аэропорт Усть-Кут".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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 AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".