Nonstop flight route between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and Colombo, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,800 miles (or 14,163 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 Northeast Philadelphia Airport and Bandaranaike 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 Northeast Philadelphia Airport and Bandaranaike 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 Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE):

• Because of Northeast Philadelphia Airport's relatively low elevation of 121 feet, planes can take off or land at Northeast Philadelphia 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.
• Northeast Philadelphia Airport covers 1,150 acres at an elevation of 121 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,736 miles (18,888 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) is NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NW of PNE.
• Northeast Philadelphia Airport started in the 1930s as the Northeast Airport, a grass field with no paved runways, one of three small airports in the area.
• Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) has 2 runways.
• The airport was the headquarters and maintenance facility for Ransome Airlines, which operated scheduled passenger flights as Allegheny Commuter to Washington D.C.

Facts about Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB):

• The furthest airport from Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,614 miles (18,691 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• As part of the airport development program, a passenger train service was launched between the Airport and Colombo Secretariat Station, in June 2010.
• The airport is undergoing resurfacing of its runway.
• The closest airport to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Ratmalana Airport (RML), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) S of CMB.
• In addition to being known as "Bandaranaike International Airport", another name for CMB is "බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළபண்டாரநாயக்க பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• Because of Bandaranaike International Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Bandaranaike 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 Bandaranaike International Airport has a single runway with an asphalt surface.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• In 1957 it closed as the British left the island, and SWRD Bandaranaike removed all the British Military airfields from Ceylon, the airfield was handed over to the Royal Ceylon Air Force and renamed Katunayake.
• Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 7 May 2007 the Sri Lankan Government decided to shift some military aviation operations out of the space adjoining the airport to SLAF Hingurakgoda, thus paving the way for more civilian operations.