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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tyndall Air Force Base (PAM), Panama City, Florida, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,711 miles (or 15,628 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 Tyndall Air Force 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 Tyndall Air Force 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 Tyndall Air Force Base (PAM):

• In September 1957, Tyndall became an Air Defense Command, later Aerospace Defense Command, base until October 1979 when ADC was inactivated and all its bases and units transferred to Tactical Air Command.
• The Air Force Civil Engineer Center is also headquartered at Tyndall and a branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials and Manufacturing Directorate also has facilities at the base.
• References for history, major commands and major units
• The furthest airport from Tyndall Air Force Base (PAM) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,235 miles (18,080 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 1 July 1956 Tyndall AFB became the station operating for the third phase of the ADC mobile radar program, being designated as TM-198.
• The 325th Fighter Wing’s primary mission is to provide a combat ready air dominance force, train F-22A Raptor pilots and maintenance personnel, and train air battle managers to support the combat Air Force.
• In 1962 the search radar was upgraded and re-designated as an AN/FPS-64.
• The closest airport to Tyndall Air Force Base (PAM) is Panama City–Bay County International Airport (PFN), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NW of PAM.

Facts about Ratmalana Airport (RML):

• In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
• Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 closest airport to Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.