Nonstop flight route between Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ), Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,147 miles (or 14,721 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 Pope Field and Anuradhapura 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 Pope Field and Anuradhapura 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 Pope Field (POB):

• During the Vietnam War, Pope was the destination for the bodies of servicemen killed in Southeast Asia.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• The USAF 440th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve unit performs airfield operations to include airfield management, weather forecasting, airfield tower control, airfield navigation and landing systems’ maintenance.
• After the war, Pope Field became Pope Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 18 September 1947.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
• On September 21, 1954, Ninth AF turned Pope over to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing which transferred from Lawson AFB, Georgia.
• In addition, the USAF 18th Air Support Operations Group, 427th Special Operations Squadron, 21st Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and Air Force Combat Control School operate from Pope Field.

Facts about Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ):

• Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ) is China Bay Airport (TRR), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) ENE of ACJ.
• The furthest airport from Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,598 miles (18,664 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• In addition to being known as "Anuradhapura Airport", another name for ACJ is "අනුරාධපුර ගුවන්තොටුපළஅனுராதபுரம் விமான நிலையம்".
• Because of Anuradhapura Airport's relatively low elevation of 292 feet, planes can take off or land at Anuradhapura 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.