Nonstop flight route between La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France and Great Falls, Montana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH), La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France and Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,709 miles (or 7,579 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport and Malmstrom Air Force Base, 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport and Malmstrom Air Force Base. 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH):

• In addition to being known as "La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport", another name for LRH is "Aéroport de La Rochelle – Ile de Ré".
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport handled 236,736 passengers last year.
• Because of La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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 furthest airport from La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (meaning La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) SSE of LRH.
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• 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.
• 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.
• With the development of the three-stage, solid-fuel Minuteman I missile in the late 1950s SAC began searching for sites to deploy this revolutionary weapon.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
• This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
• 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.
• 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.
• By 1954, several aircraft control and warning squadrons had been formed at the base.
• Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.