Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and China Bay Airport (TRR), Trincomalee, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,386 miles (or 8,668 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 Gatwick Airport and China Bay 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 Gatwick Airport and China Bay 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• In July 1952, the British government confirmed that the airport would be renovated, primarily for aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.
• A second 875-foot extension of Gatwick's runway was completed in 1970, bringing it to 9,075 ft and permitting non-stop jet flights to the US east coast with a full payload and full range and payload operations by British United Airways and Caledonian Airways BAC One-Eleven 500s.BEA Airtours made Gatwick their base.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 6 July 1935, the aerodrome closed temporarily for renovations, which included the construction of the "Beehive", the world's first circular terminal building.
• In November 1972, Laker Airways became the first operator of wide-body aircraft at Gatwick after the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft.

Facts about China Bay Airport (TRR):

• Because of China Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at China Bay 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.
• China Bay Airport (TRR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The base houses the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy.
• A number of RAF squadrons and other units were stationed at the airfield during and immediately after the war.
• Originally built by the British during their Empire colonial times, it was transferred to the Royal Ceylonese Air Force which later became the Sri Lanka Air Force.
• The furthest airport from China Bay Airport (TRR) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,625 miles (18,709 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to China Bay Airport (TRR) is Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) WSW of TRR.
• In addition to being known as "China Bay Airport", another name for TRR is "சீனக்குடா விமான நிலையம்චීන වරාය ගුවන්තොටුපළ".