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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,891 miles (or 14,308 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 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 Northeast Philadelphia 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 Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE):

• Northeast Philadelphia Airport is a public airport just north of the intersection of Grant Avenue and Ashton Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
• When this airport opened the surrounding area was largely open farmland.
• 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 (PNE) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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 airport was the headquarters and maintenance facility for Ransome Airlines, which operated scheduled passenger flights as Allegheny Commuter to Washington D.C.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• As announced earlier the airport was opened for flight operations on 18 March 2013.
• 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.
• 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.
• The second stage of the HIA project expansion works at the airport is to be completed by 2015.
• The closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.
• The numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".