Nonstop flight route between Marysville, California, United States and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,982 miles (or 14,456 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 Beale Air Force Base and Mattala Rajapaksa International 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 Beale Air Force Base and Mattala Rajapaksa International 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 Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, established on 15 February 1959.
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• Beale AFB is the home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and located outside of Linda, about 10 miles east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City and about 40 miles north of Sacramento.
• The Air Force activated the 851st Strategic Missile Squadron on 1 April 1961.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Camp Beale also housed a German POW camp, and served as the main camp for a series of satellite POW camps around northern California.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
• In July 1965 the wing was redesignated the 456th Bombardment Wing, Heavy with the inactivation of the Titan I Missile squadron but continued to fly the B-52 and KC-135.
• On 8 February 1959, Strategic Air Command established Beale as an operational USAF base.
• In 1948, Camp Beale became Beale AFB, its mission being to train bombardier navigators in radar techniques.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• The airport was declared open by the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, on 18 March 2013 and commenced operations with the landing of a SriLankan Airlines special Airbus A340 flight named 'City of Magam Ruhunupura' with the President on board.
• This project is expected to stimulate the development and infrastructure in the area, raising living standards of the people not only in Hambantota, but in nearby Matara, Moneragala and other close districts.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• It was initially planned to build an international airport serving the south of Sri Lanka at Weerawila, but the plans were scrapped due to environmental concerns.
• The air traffic control tower of height 41m has been constructed at the highest elevation of the aerodrome.
• The furthest airport from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,719 miles (18,860 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• Because of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 157 feet, planes can take off or land at Mattala Rajapaksa International 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 Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.
• On October 2012, the Super King 20 Test Aircraft, which belongs to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Department and features a dual engine, landed on the new runway to test the newly constructed runway and the instrumentation.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.