Nonstop flight route between Homestead, Florida, United States and Ratmalana, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST), Homestead, Florida, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,841 miles (or 15,837 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base and Ratmalana 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base and Ratmalana 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST):

• Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Air Forces officials decided the site would better serve defense needs as a maintenance stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Homestead Air Reserve Base", another name for HST is "Homestead ARB".
• On 25 October 1945, following an evaluation of the damage caused by the storm, officials announced that Homestead AAF would shut down, with a target date for complete closure of December 1945.
• The 482th Fighter Wing is part of the Air Force Reserve Command and Tenth Air Force and functions as the host wing for the installation.
• The closest airport to Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of HST.
• The furthest airport from Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,568 miles (18,616 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Beginning in mid 1957, the wing deployed aircraft, crews, and support personnel to North African bases under the REFLEX ACTION program.

Facts about Ratmalana Airport (RML):

• In the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts from Ratmalana to London.
• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• The furthest airport from Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,628 miles (18,713 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• In 2012, plans were drawn to relaunch Ratmalana as an international airport, to act as a secondary airport for the city.
• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
• Ratmalana airport was declared open for small international commercial flights.
• Because of Ratmalana Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Ratmalana 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.