Nonstop flight route between Pärnu, Estonia and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pärnu Airport (EPU), Pärnu, Estonia and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,677 miles (or 7,528 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 Pärnu Airport 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 Pärnu Airport 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 Pärnu Airport (EPU):

• In addition to being known as "Pärnu Airport", another name for EPU is "Pärnu lennujaam".
• During the Soviet occupation, the airfield was operated by the Soviet Air Force.
• Pärnu Airport (EPU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,091 miles (17,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Pärnu Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Pärnu 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 the summer of 1992, the re-constituted Estonian defence ministry took over the military airport, which had drawn down its operations.
• The closest airport to Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Tallinn Airport (TLL), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) N of EPU.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• This project will have two phases, with the first phase expected to be completed by the end of October 2012.
• 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.
• 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 numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• Phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• The closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.
• 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.
• The air traffic control tower of height 41m has been constructed at the highest elevation of the aerodrome.
• 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.