Nonstop flight route between Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Colombo, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,464 miles (or 8,794 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 Brize Norton and Bandaranaike 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 RAF Brize Norton and Bandaranaike 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 RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• 101 Squadron reformed at Brize Norton on 1 May 1984, it previously operated the Avro Vulcan and participated in the Operation Black Buck missions of the Falklands War.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• A peace camp was held at the station from 21 to 25 April 2005, along with a demonstration in nearby Carterton.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• By the end of June 2011 all flying units from RAF Lyneham had moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British policy in the Middle East.
• The Hercules fleet at RAF Lyneham officially moved to Brize Norton on 1 July 2011.

Facts about Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB):

• The furthest airport from Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,614 miles (18,691 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The airport is used by Emirates as an alternative emergency airport for its Airbus A380 aircraft.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• The second phase of the expansion project is being carried out with Japanese assistance and is expected to be completed by 2015.
• In addition to being known as "Bandaranaike International Airport", another name for CMB is "බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළபண்டாரநாயக்க பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• As part of the airport development program, a passenger train service was launched between the Airport and Colombo Secretariat Station, in June 2010.
• In 1957 it closed as the British left the island, and SWRD Bandaranaike removed all the British Military airfields from Ceylon, the airfield was handed over to the Royal Ceylon Air Force and renamed Katunayake.
• Because of Bandaranaike International Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Bandaranaike 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Ratmalana Airport (RML), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) S of CMB.
• Bandaranaike International Airport is equipped with 18 double jetway gates in preparation for airlines introducing the Airbus A380.