Nonstop flight route between Tôlanaro, Madagascar and Palmdale, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), Tôlanaro, Madagascar and Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD), Palmdale, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,324 miles (or 18,224 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 Tôlanaro Airport and Palmdale Regional 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 Tôlanaro Airport and Palmdale Regional 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 Tôlanaro Airport (FTU):

• Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Tôlanaro Airport", another name for FTU is "Marillac Airport".
• The furthest airport from Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located 11,435 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Lompoc, California, United States.
• The closest airport to Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Ampanihy Airport (AMP), which is located 141 miles (227 kilometers) W of FTU.
• Because of Tôlanaro Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Tôlanaro 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.

Facts about Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD):

• The furthest airport from Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service facility based on enplanements in 2008.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 10,392 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 82% more than the 5,712 in 2007.
• LAWA has used Plant 42's facilities in past years when at one point in the early 1990s several airlines used the Palmdale Regional Airport terminal sited on Plant 42.
• The closest airport to Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) is General Wm. J. Fox Airfield (WJF), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NW of PMD.
• The Federal Aviation Administration operates its Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center at its site on Plant 42 by Avenue P and 25th Street East.
• The origins of Palmdale Regional Airport go to the early 1930s, when a small airstrip was built in the desert.
• Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) has 3 runways.
• Between June 7 and December 31, 2007, the airport served 12,022 passengers, about 58 passengers per day.
• From 1970 to 1983 the Los Angeles Department of Airports, now called Los Angeles World Airports, acquired about 17,750 acres of land east and south of United States Air Force Plant 42 in unincorporated Los Angeles County to be developed into the future "Palmdale Intercontinental Airport," an alternative to LAX.