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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Marin County Airport (NOT), Novato, California, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,011 miles (or 14,502 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 Marin County 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 Marin County 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 Marin County Airport (NOT):

• In addition to being known as "Marin County Airport", other names for NOT include "Gnoss Field" and "DVO".
• In 1968 the County of Marin bought the airport and moved it to its present location.
• The closest airport to Marin County Airport (NOT) is Napa County Airport (APC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) ENE of NOT.
• The typical Gnoss Field crosswind landing conditions on runway 31 are a stronger than reported headwind on right base and, in a typical training aircraft, a slight amount of wind shear about 100 feet before the runway 31 threshold, settling down to a steady crosswind - but then adding to a slight headwind component, just past the near west side hangars.
• Marin County Airport (NOT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Marin County Airport (NOT) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,343 miles (18,254 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Stol Air Commuter operated flights between the airfield and San Francisco International Airport during the 1970s.
• The airport was opened by the Wright family just after World War II to serve the thousands of ex-military pilots expected to be flying after the war.
• The Wrights original privately owned airport had a dirt runway and was just west of the current airport, in what is now a grassy field.
• Marin County Airport or Gnoss Field, formerly O56, is a public airport two miles northeast of Novato.
• Because of Marin County Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Marin County 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.

Facts about Ratmalana Airport (RML):

• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is much closer to the Colombo city center compared to the larger Bandaranaike International Airport which is 32 km north of 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• 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.
• During the Second World War it was used as a Royal Air Force base, with No 30 Squadron flying Hawker Hurricanes from there against Japanese Navy aircraft.
• In the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts from Ratmalana to London.
• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".