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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,547 miles (or 8,927 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 Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh Airport (EDI):

• Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport reached a record level in 2013 with nearly 9.8 million passengers and over 111,000 aircraft movements.
• The closest airport to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Perth Airport (PSL), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) N of EDI.
• Edinburgh Airport handled 9,775,443 passengers last year.
• Because of Edinburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 136 feet, planes can take off or land at Edinburgh 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 only international services from Edinburgh during the 1980s were to Amsterdam and Dublin, but in the following years links were opened to destinations in France and Germany.
• The furthest airport from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,713 miles (18,850 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In April 2008 work began on the resurfacing of the main runway.
• The airport lies on the A8 Glasgow-Edinburgh road, and can be easily reached by the M8 and the M9.
• Turnhouse Aerodrome was the most northerly British air defence base in World War I used by the Royal Flying Corps.
• Edinburgh Airport (EDI) has 2 runways.
• In 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership transferred to the Ministry of Defence.
• As a cheaper alternative to the cancelled Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project, an additional interchange station is currently being constructed on the Fife Circle Line.

Facts about Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB):

• 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Bandaranaike International Airport", another name for CMB is "බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළபண்டாரநாயக்க பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• 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 (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.
• Airport expansion projects have recently been undertaken at the airport under the Stage 1, Phase II Expansion Project.
• The airport is undergoing resurfacing of its runway.
• Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake, Sri Lanka, is 30 kilometers north of the island nation's capital of Colombo.
• 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.
• 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.