Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lihue, Hawaii, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lihue Airport (LIH), Lihue, Hawaii, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,183 miles (or 5,122 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 Lihue 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 Lihue 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):

• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Great Falls became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
• 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.
• The base's runway was closed on 31 December 1996 for aircraft operations.
• Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
• 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.
• 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.
• With the phaseout of the B-36 from the inventory in the late 1950s, the need for fighter escorts of SAC bombers was eliminated.

Facts about Lihue Airport (LIH):

• The airport is the primary gateway to Kauai for visitors, and has several rental car facilities.
• Because of Lihue Airport's relatively low elevation of 153 feet, planes can take off or land at Lihue 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 closest airport to Lihue Airport (LIH) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNW of LIH.
• The furthest airport from Lihue Airport (LIH) is Ghanzi Airport (GNZ), which is nearly antipodal to Lihue Airport (meaning Lihue Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ghanzi Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ghanzi, Botswana.
• Lihue Airport handled 2,416,812 passengers last year.
• Lihue Airport (LIH) has 2 runways.