Nonstop flight route between Jaffna, Sri Lanka and Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jaffna Airport (JAF), Jaffna, Sri Lanka and Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,356 miles (or 11,838 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 Jaffna Airport and Chatham Islands, 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 Jaffna Airport and Chatham Islands. 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 Jaffna Airport (JAF):

• The furthest airport from Jaffna Airport (JAF) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,511 miles (18,525 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• A Sri Lanka Air Force detachment moved onto the site around 1976.
• During World War II the British Royal Air Force built an airfield in Palaly near Kankesanthurai in northern Ceylon.
• Jaffna Airport (JAF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The inaugural flight by Air Ceylon on 10 December 1947 was from Ratmalana Airport to Madras via Kankesanthurai.
• The closest airport to Jaffna Airport (JAF) is Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ), which is located 106 miles (170 kilometers) SSE of JAF.
• In addition to being known as "Jaffna Airport", another name for JAF is "யாழ்ப்பாணம் விமான நிலையம்යාපනය ගුවන්තොටුපළ".
• Because of Jaffna Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Jaffna 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.
• Civilian flights resumed from the airport in 2002 after the Norwegian facilitated ceasefire.

Facts about Chatham Islands (CHT):

• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Chatham Islands / Tuuta Airport is a small airport 10.5 nautical miles northeast of Waitangi Township on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is the base of Air Chathams and usually houses two aircraft overnight.
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.
• The furthest airport from Chatham Islands (CHT) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is nearly antipodal to Chatham Islands (meaning Chatham Islands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Montpellier, France.
• Air Chathams operate services to Auckland, to Christchurch, and to Wellington operating Convair 580 aircraft, on the following days.
• Because of Chatham Islands's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Chatham Islands 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 addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".