Nonstop flight route between Hambantota, Sri Lanka and Guarulhos (near São Paulo), São Paulo (state), Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka and São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU), Guarulhos (near São Paulo), São Paulo (state), Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,766 miles (or 14,107 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 Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro 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 Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro 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 Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• Construction of phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of 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.
• 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.
• This project will have two phases, with the first phase expected to be completed by the end of October 2012.
• The numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• 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.

Facts about São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU):

• Following a decision made on April 26, 2011 by the Federal Government for private companies being granted concessions to explore some Infraero airports, on February 6, 2012, the administration of the airport was conceded, for 20 years, to the Consortium Invepar-ACSA composed by the Brazilian Invepar, an Investments and Funds Society and the South African ACSA – Airports Company South Africa.
• Viação Cometa offers daily departures to and from the airport and the cities of Santos, São Vicente, and Praia Grande.
• The furthest airport from São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU) is Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), which is nearly antipodal to São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (meaning São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Minami-Daito Airport), and is located 12,218 miles (19,663 kilometers) away in Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport", another name for GRU is "Aeroporto Internacional de São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro".
• GRU has two parallel runways.
• São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU) has 2 runways.
• The airport is located 25 km from downtown São Paulo.
• Construction of Terminal 3, capable of handling 12 million passengers per year, had been planned since 2001 but due to a myriad of political and economic problems, the actual construction didn't begin until 2011.
• São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport handled 36,460,923 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU) is São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SW of GRU.