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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Carlisle Lake District Airport (CAX), Carlisle, England, United Kingdom and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,523 miles (or 8,888 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 Carlisle Lake District Airport 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 Carlisle Lake District Airport 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 Carlisle Lake District Airport (CAX):

• Following WA Developments' decision to merge Eddie Stobart with the property and ports company the Westbury Property Fund on 15 August 2007 and to list it on the London Stock Exchange as the Stobart Group, Carlisle Lake District Airport initially remained within the ownership of WA Developments, through its subsidiary Stobart Air Holdings.
• Carlisle Lake District Airport (CAX) has 2 runways.
• As the airport had lost £3.5 million on operations between 1979 and 1994, Carlisle City Council agreed to sell the airport on a 150 year lease to Haughey Airports in 2000.
• Under WA Developments, some development was planned for Carlisle Lake District Airport which would have seen the introduction of freight and passenger services in the future, along with the re-surfacing of the existing runway to accept larger aircraft as part of a £21 million development.Ryanair also expressed an interest in using the completed airport as a hub.
• The closest airport to Carlisle Lake District Airport (CAX) is Newcastle Airport (NCL), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) E of CAX.
• Originally housing No.59 Operational Training Unit the station provided day training for Hawker Hurricane pilots, which was replaced by OTU17 Group Coastal Command in August 1942 for training long-range fighter crews on Bristol Beaufort and Bristol Beaufighter conversion squadrons, as well as air firing and night flying.
• Carlisle Lake District Airport's main activity at present is to provide facilities for flight training & sightseeing flights.
• Because of Carlisle Lake District Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Carlisle Lake District 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 Carlisle Lake District Airport (CAX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,756 miles (18,919 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• On 17 January 2011, Stobart Air submitted proposals to build a 394,000 sq ft Air Freight Distribution Centre on the site.
• In the early 1930s, Cumbria County Council opened Kingstown Municipal Airport, at the time outside the borough boundaries which later became the RAF Kingstown and is now Kingstown or Kingmoor Industrial estate.

Facts about Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Ratmalana Airport (RML), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) S of CMB.
• The second stage will involve the acquisition of 600 hectares of public land, the construction of a runway capable of accommodating new-generation airplanes, an aircraft repair and maintenance center, an arrival and a departure terminal, a shopping arcade, a cargo complex connected to the airport by rail and a multistory car park.
• In addition to being known as "Bandaranaike International Airport", another name for CMB is "බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළபண்டாரநாயக்க பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• On 7 November 1971 the first Boeing 747 landing took place, the Boeing 747-200B was operated by Condor was carrying German tourists from Frankfurt.
• The second phase of the expansion project is being carried out with Japanese assistance and is expected to be completed by 2015.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport is equipped with 18 double jetway gates in preparation for airlines introducing the Airbus A380.
• On 26 July, The Criminal Investigations Department of Sri Lanka police set up a new security system at the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake to identify criminals.
• In the early 1990s the position of the airport's runway was shifted northward and the old runway was made into a taxiway for departing and arriving aircraft.
• 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.