Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB), Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,209 miles (or 11,601 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Mactan-Cebu International 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Mactan-Cebu International 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
• Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
• The base's runway was closed on 31 December 1996 for aircraft operations.
• MATS reopened the C-54 Flight Training School as the 1272 Medium Transition Training Unit in May 1950, one month before the Korean War began.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base traces its beginnings back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe.
• On 21 August 1954 the 407th SFW Vice Commander, Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom, died when his T-33 Shooting Star trainer crashed approximately one mile west of the Great Falls Municipal Airport.
• Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.
• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• By 1954, several aircraft control and warning squadrons had been formed at the base.
• The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".

Facts about Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB):

• The furthest airport from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) is Piloto Osvaldo Marques Dias Airport (AFL), which is nearly antipodal to Mactan-Cebu International Airport (meaning Mactan-Cebu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Piloto Osvaldo Marques Dias Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Alta Floresta, Brazil.
• The runway was built by the United States Air Force in 1956 as an emergency airport for Strategic Air Command bombers and it was known as the Mactan Air Base.
• Ramzi Yousef was on board Flight 434 from Manila when he planted the bomb beneath a vacant seat.
• Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) currently has only 1 runway.
• On August 20, 2008, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority announced that about 300 million Philippine pesos will be spent for the terminal expansion program to address the increasing volume of passenger traffic.
• The closest airport to Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) is Tagbilaran Airport (TAG), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) S of CEB.
• Because of Mactan-Cebu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Mactan-Cebu International 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 the mid-1960s, the civilian airport was opened, to replace the Lahug Airport, which could no longer be expanded due to safety and physical problems.
• In addition to being known as "Mactan-Cebu International Airport", another name for CEB is "Tugpahanang Pangkalibutan sa Mactan-SugboPaliparang Pandaigdig ng Mactan-Cebu".
• Mactan-Cebu International Airport handled 6,050,564 passengers last year.