Nonstop flight route between Hambantota, Sri Lanka and Leeds / Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka and Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA), Leeds / Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,574 miles (or 8,970 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 Leeds Bradford 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 Leeds Bradford 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):

• The terminal building will be of area 12,000m2 with the capacity to handle 1,000,000 passengers per annum.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA):

• In August 1986, an Air France Concorde charter flight from Paris landed at Leeds Bradford for the first time, and an estimated 60,000 people were there to see it.
• Work on the airport terminal has been ongoing since 1996, and the result of this has been significant growth in terminal size and passenger facilities.
• Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA) is Sheffield City Heliport (SZD), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) SSE of LBA.
• Leeds Bradford International Airport handled 3,318,358 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,780 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Significant improvements were made to the aerodrome.
• Because of Leeds Bradford International Airport's relatively low elevation of 681 feet, planes can take off or land at Leeds Bradford 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 11 August 2009 Ryanair announced it would set up a new base at Leeds Bradford, initially basing two aircraft at the airport offering 17 routes from March 2010.
• Yeadon was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force and became part of firstly 13 Group, then 12 Group at a later date.