Nonstop flight route between Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Guernsey Airport (GCI), Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,607 miles (or 9,023 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 Guernsey 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 Guernsey 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 Guernsey Airport (GCI):

• On 7 December 1997 an F-27 operated by AirUK arriving from Southampton overshot the runway while landing in high cross winds.
• On 12 January 1999 a F-27 operating a cargo flight for Channel Express arriving from Luton crashed short of runway 27 after deploying full flap on approach.
• Because of Guernsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 336 feet, planes can take off or land at Guernsey 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.
• Atlantic Airlines operates from Bournemouth carrying mail, and from London Luton bringing in newspapers and DHL parcels.
• The furthest airport from Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Guernsey Airport (meaning Guernsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,024 miles (19,350 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Guernsey Airport (GCI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Aurigny Air Services has its head office on the airport property.
• Guernsey Airport handled 886,396 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Jersey Airport (JER), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of GCI.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• 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 terminal building will be of area 12,000m2 with the capacity to handle 1,000,000 passengers per annum.
• 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 closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.
• 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.
• On 16 October 2012, a Hawker Beechcraft B200 King Air registered AP-CAB, belonging to the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan landed on runway 23 at 12.38 PM local time becoming the first aircraft to land at the new airport as requested by the Rajapaksa regime.
• The second stage of the HIA project the construction will begin in 2013 and is to be completed by 2016.
• Hambantota International Airport will include domestic/regional and international passenger and cargo terminals, warehouses, as well as being compatible for seaplane/amphibious operations etc.
• The air traffic control tower of height 41m has been constructed at the highest elevation of the aerodrome.
• On 24 January 2013, Sri Lanka Minister of Civil Aviation Piyankara Jayaratne said in parliament that the airport would be declared open on 18 March 2013.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.