Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Paro, Bhutan:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from GFA to PBH:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- PBH Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about PBH
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to PBH
- List of Nearest Airports to PBH
- Map of Furthest Airports from PBH
- List of Furthest Airports from PBH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Paro International Airport (PBH), Paro, Bhutan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,104 miles (or 11,433 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 Paro 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 Paro International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PBH / VQPR |
Airport Name: | Paro International Airport |
Location: | Paro, Bhutan |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°24'32"N by 89°25'14"E |
Area Served: | Thimphu and Paro District |
Operator/Owner: | Department of Civil Aviation |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 7300 feet (2,225 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PBH |
More Information: | PBH Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin.
- Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
- At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
- On 18 December 1953, Great Falls AFB was transferred from Military Air Transport Service to Strategic Air Command, although MATS units remained at the base for several years.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Paro International Airport (PBH):
- The second international airport project, which was planned for construction at the Gelephu site, was downgraded to a domestic airport project in October 2008.
- In 2012 it was reported that 181,659 passengers used the airport.
- The furthest airport from Paro International Airport (PBH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,281 miles (18,155 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
- In 2002, the airport handled 37,200 passengers and 91,000 tonnes of cargo.
- The closest airport to Paro International Airport (PBH) is Cooch Behar Airport (COH), which is located 65 miles (104 kilometers) SSE of PBH.
- With surrounding peaks as high as 18,000 ft it is considered one of the world's most challenging airports, and as of October 2009, only eight pilots in the world are certified to land at the airport.
- Because of Paro International Airport's high elevation of 7,300 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PBH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PBH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Paro International Airport (PBH) currently has only 1 runway.