Nonstop flight route between Bishop, California, United States and Ratmalana, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield (BIH), Bishop, California, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,164 miles (or 14,748 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 Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield and Ratmalana 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 Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield and Ratmalana 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 Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield (BIH):

• Eastern Sierra Regional Airport is two miles east of Bishop, in Inyo County, California.
• After the end of World War II, Bishop AAF was turned over to Air Technical Service Command as a storage airfield.
• The closest airport to Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield (BIH) is Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NW of BIH.
• The USAF subleased from Inyo County runway use rights and a heliport area of 4.76 acres known as the Bishop Test Site from 15 November 1965 to 19 June 1971 and from 25 November 1980 to 30 September 1985.
• Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield (BIH) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield (BIH) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,267 miles (18,133 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Eastern Sierra Regional AirportBishop Army Airfield's high elevation of 4,124 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BIH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BIH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Ratmalana Airport (RML):

• In the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts from Ratmalana to London.
• 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.
• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2012, plans were drawn to relaunch Ratmalana as an international airport, to act as a secondary airport for the city.
• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".