Nonstop flight route between West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,835 miles (or 15,827 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International Airport (PBI):

• The furthest airport from Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• After several years of Palm Beach County fighting the Air Force presence in West Palm Beach, the Air Force started to close down operations there.
• Palm Beach International Airport handled 5,609,168 passengers last year.
• A new 240-foot Airport Traffic Control tower is currently active on the north side of the airport along with a single-story, 9,000-square-foot ATBM Base Building.
• Because of Palm Beach International Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Palm Beach 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.
• Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) S of PBI.
• The Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Aviation Battalion is located between runways at PBI.
• In October 1966 an eight-gate Main Terminal opened on the northeast side of the airport.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• 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.
• It was initially planned to build an international airport serving the south of Sri Lanka at Weerawila, but the plans were scrapped due to environmental concerns.
• The numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• The second stage of the HIA project the construction will begin in 2013 and is to be completed by 2016.
• Phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• 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.
• Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• The closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.