Nonstop flight route between El Centro, California, United States and Ratmalana, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK), El Centro, California, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,513 miles (or 15,309 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK):

• The facility has two operating runways.
• NAF El Centro is the winter home of the U.S.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,532 miles (18,558 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• For the first 35 years, the mission of NAF El Centro was devoted to aeronautical escape system testing, evaluation, and design.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Facility El Centro", another name for NJK is "KNJK - FAA: NJK".
• The closest airport to Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Imperial County Airport (IPL), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) E of NJK.
• Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) has 2 runways.
• The addition of the Display and Debriefing Subsystem, known as DDS, expanded the role of NAF El Centro to include air combat training by utilizing remote television, acoustical and laser scoring systems.

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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
• Ratmalana airport at one time had the country's main air terminal, with the Douglas DC-3 Dakota and Lockheed Constellation aeroplanes of Air Ceylon flying out of it.
• Ratmalana Airport, is one of the two international airports serving the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, the other being Bandaranaike International Airport.
• In 1964, the government decided to build the new Bandaranaike International Airport north of the city, to replace Ratmalana.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.