Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Surat Thani, Thailand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Surat Thani International Airport (URT), Surat Thani, Thailand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,105 miles (or 13,043 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 Surat Thani 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 Surat Thani 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):

• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Surat Thani International Airport (URT):

• The closest airport to Surat Thani International Airport (URT) is Ranong Airport (UNN), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NW of URT.
• In addition to being known as "Surat Thani International Airport", another name for URT is "ท่าอากาศยานสุราษฎร์ธานี".
• The furthest airport from Surat Thani International Airport (URT) is Capitán FAP Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International Airport (TRU), which is nearly antipodal to Surat Thani International Airport (meaning Surat Thani International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán FAP Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International Airport), and is located 12,297 miles (19,789 kilometers) away in Trujillo, Peru.
• On 11 December 1998, Thai Airways International Flight 261, an A310-200 bound for Surat Thani from Bangkok, was making its third landing attempt in heavy rain when it crashed into a rice paddy about 2 miles from the airport.
• Because of Surat Thani International Airport's relatively low elevation of 286 feet, planes can take off or land at Surat Thani 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.
• Surat Thani International Airport (URT) currently has only 1 runway.