Nonstop flight route between Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States and Ratmalana, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH), Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,843 miles (or 15,841 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 Lake Charles Regional Airport 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 Lake Charles Regional Airport 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 Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH):

• Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH) is Chennault International Airport (CWF), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) NE of LCH.
• A new state-of-the-art terminal building was officially opened to the public in 2009.
• Because of Lake Charles Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Lake Charles Regional 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.
• In later years, Trans-Texas Airways served the airport with Convair 600 turboprop flights primarily to Houston and New Orleans.
• The furthest airport from Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,040 miles (17,767 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.

Facts about Ratmalana Airport (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 the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts from Ratmalana to London.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• Ratmalana airport was declared open for small international commercial flights.
• Ratmalana Airport, is one of the two international airports serving the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, the other being Bandaranaike International Airport.
• In 1934 the State Council of Ceylon made a decision to construct an aerodrome within reach of the capital city of Colombo and decided on Ratmalana as the best site.
• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
• In 2012, plans were drawn to relaunch Ratmalana as an international airport, to act as a secondary airport for the city.
• 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.
• In 1964, the government decided to build the new Bandaranaike International Airport north of the city, to replace Ratmalana.