Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Leh, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL), Leh, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,770 miles (or 10,895 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 Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe 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 Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe 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):

• 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.
• Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• 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.
• In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
• 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.
• On 1 July 1968, the F-101B equipped 29th FIS was inactivated and replaced by the F-106 Delta Dart equipped 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was reassigned from Richards Gebaur AFB when its ADC mission was eliminated.
• This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.

Facts about Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL):

• The furthest airport from Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,802 miles (18,993 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport", another name for IXL is "कुशोक बकुला रिम्पोचे हवाई अड्डा".
• The closest airport to Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) is Skardu Airport (KDU), which is located 141 miles (227 kilometers) NW of IXL.
• Because of Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport's high elevation of 10,682 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at IXL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make IXL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.