Nonstop flight route between Masterton, New Zealand and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hood Aerodrome (MRO), Masterton, New Zealand and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,738 miles (or 10,843 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 Hood Aerodrome 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 Hood Aerodrome 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 Hood Aerodrome (MRO):

• Historically, Hood Aerodrome has been served by South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand in 1962–1966 and two locally-based carriers, Wairarapa Airlines which linked Masterton with Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Nelson and Christchurch from August 1981 to January 1997.
• Because of Hood Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Hood Aerodrome 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 Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Hood Aerodrome (meaning Hood Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,382 miles (19,927 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• The closest airport to Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) W of MRO.
• The aerodrome is also been used as a dragstrip for over ten years and there are plans to build a purpose built dragstrip.
• Hood Aerodrome (MRO) has 4 runways.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• As announced earlier the airport was opened for flight operations on 18 March 2013.
• The airport was declared open by the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, on 18 March 2013 and commenced operations with the landing of a SriLankan Airlines special Airbus A340 flight named 'City of Magam Ruhunupura' with the President on board.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• 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 terminal building will be of area 12,000m2 with the capacity to handle 1,000,000 passengers per annum.
• The airport is designed to facilitate for over 800 foreign passengers at peak hours and several local passengers per every 1000 km² in side the buildings.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• 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 closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.