Nonstop flight route between St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Galle, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Koggala Airport (KCT), Galle, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,613 miles (or 9,034 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 RAF Leuchars and Koggala 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 RAF Leuchars and Koggala 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 RAF Leuchars (ADX):

• RAF Leuchars is home to the annual Leuchars Airshow.
• The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Leuchars remained an active Station to the end of the War, concentrating on anti-submarine and anti-shipping strikes.
• The other operational UK air defence base since June 2007 is RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, which operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4.
• The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.
• RAF Leuchars is commanded by an Air Commodore instead of a Group Captain who would usually be given command of a station.
• During Second World War, British Overseas Airways Corporation formed in November 1939 from Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd operated a wartime route from RAF Leuchars to Stockholm.
• The next generation of jets to be stationed at Leuchars were the Hawker Hunter and the Gloster Javelin, with air-sea rescue services provided by Westland Whirlwind helicopters.

Facts about Koggala Airport (KCT):

• Prior to the Second World War, the lake at Koggala was used for seaplanes.
• The furthest airport from Koggala Airport (KCT) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,683 miles (18,802 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to Koggala Airport (KCT) is Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) ENE of KCT.
• Because of Koggala Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Koggala 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 "Koggala Airport", another name for KCT is "කොග්ගල ගුවන්තොටුපළ".
• QEA and Imperial Airways flew Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats from Koggala lake to the Swan River at Perth, on what was at the time the world's longest non-stop air route.
• Koggala continued as a Sri Lanka Air Force base.