Nonstop flight route between Le Havre, France and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Le Havre - Octeville Airport (LEH), Le Havre, France and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,486 miles (or 8,829 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 Le Havre - Octeville 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 Le Havre - Octeville 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 Le Havre - Octeville Airport (LEH):

• In addition to being known as "Le Havre - Octeville Airport", another name for LEH is "Aéroport du Havre - OctevilleAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-30".
• The furthest airport from Le Havre - Octeville Airport (LEH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Le Havre - Octeville Airport (meaning Le Havre - Octeville Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,009 miles (19,326 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Le Havre - Octeville Airport (LEH) is Deauville - Saint-Gatien Airport (DOL), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of LEH.
• Le Havre - Octeville Airport (LEH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Le Havre - Octeville Airport's relatively low elevation of 312 feet, planes can take off or land at Le Havre - Octeville 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.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (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.
• The air traffic control tower of height 41m has been constructed at the highest elevation of the aerodrome.
• 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".
• Construction of phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• 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 is expected to stimulate the development and infrastructure in the area, raising living standards of the people not only in Hambantota, but in nearby Matara, Moneragala and other close districts.
• 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.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• As announced earlier the airport was opened for flight operations on 18 March 2013.
• The second stage of the HIA project expansion works at the airport is to be completed by 2015.