Nonstop flight route between Lakeland, Florida, United States and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, Florida, United States and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,815 miles (or 15,796 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 Lakeland Linder Regional 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 Lakeland Linder Regional 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 Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL):

• The airport is also the official home of the Black Diamond Jet Team, a civilian aerobatic demonstration team which flies four Aero L-39 Albatros high performance trainers and two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 fighter jets.
• Design of the current 2½ story airside/landside terminal was begun in 1997, with construction comencing in 2000 and completed in late 2001.
• Because of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 142 feet, planes can take off or land at Lakeland Linder Regional 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 anticipated that the 2013 Federal sequester would result in the closure of the airport's control tower and require pilots to rely on air traffic controllers from other area airports.
• Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) is Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of LAL.
• In addition to being known as "Lakeland Linder Regional Airport", another name for LAL is "Drane Field".
• The furthest airport from Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1940, the Lakeland City Commission passed a resolution to replace the city's Lakeland Municipal Airport, which was built in 1933 & early 1934.

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".
• Construction of phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• 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 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 numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• 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 second stage of the HIA project the construction will begin in 2013 and is to be completed by 2016.
• Domestic carriers Helitours and Cinnamon Air offer charter flights that connect the airport with Ratmalana Airport and Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.
• As announced earlier the airport was opened for flight operations on 18 March 2013.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.