Nonstop flight route between Ratmalana, Sri Lanka and Alta, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka and Alta Airport (ALF), Alta, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,016 miles (or 8,072 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 Ratmalana Airport and Alta 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 Ratmalana Airport and Alta 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 Ratmalana Airport (RML):

• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,628 miles (18,713 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• The airport is much closer to the Colombo city center compared to the larger Bandaranaike International Airport which is 32 km north of the city.
• Because of Ratmalana Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Ratmalana 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
• In 1934 the State Council of Ceylon made a decision to construct an aerodrome within reach of the capital city of Colombo and decided on Ratmalana as the best site.
• In 1964, the government decided to build the new Bandaranaike International Airport north of the city, to replace Ratmalana.

Facts about Alta Airport (ALF):

• SAS Commuter was established in 1988 and started operations in Northern Norway in May 1990, making Alta its central hub for Finnmark.
• The location in Elvebakken was somewhat controversial in Alta, especially as the airport would be located so close to the town center, potentially causing noise pollution.
• Alta Airport's catchment area includes Kautokeino, which has no airport.
• Services were at first operated by Scandinavian Airlines System.
• Alta Airport (ALF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Plans for expanding the 1,670-square-meter terminal facilities were first articulated by the Civil Airport Administration in the 1990s.
• The furthest airport from Alta Airport (ALF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,502 miles (16,901 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Alta Airport", another name for ALF is "Alta lufthavn".
• The closest airport to Alta Airport (ALF) is Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of ALF.
• Alta Airport handled 353,051 passengers last year.
• Because of Alta Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Alta 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.
• SAS bought Braathens in 2001, resulting in the latter taking over the service to Oslo starting on 1 April 2002.