Nonstop flight route between San Bernardino, California, United States and Colombo, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,373 miles (or 15,084 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 Norton Air Force Base 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 Norton Air Force Base 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 Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• In 1950, Air Defense Command activated the 27th Air Division at Norton AFB, being assigned to the Western Air Defense Force.
• With the air force moving into the jet age in the late 1940s, Norton began overhauling jet engines in 1951, and the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area became one of three air force jet overhaul centers by 1953.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• Recently, private development on the former base has helped turn the basically unused land into jobs and revenue for the city of San Bernardino as several companies have opened distribution centers on the property.
• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.
• On 1 March 1942, the airport was renamed San Bernardino Army Air Field and the San Bernardino Air Depot was established there.

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.
• 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport is one of the two international airports serving the city of Colombo, the other is Ratmalana Airport.
• Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In the early 1990s the position of the airport's runway was shifted northward and the old runway was made into a taxiway for departing and arriving aircraft.
• 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".
• A new split-level passenger terminal building which separates arrivals and departures vertically, a new pier with eight boarding gates and 14 passenger boarding bridges with a dedicated gate comprising two passenger boarding bridges for the operations of the new Airbus A380, will be included in the proposed new complex.
• Terminal 1 opened in 1967 and is the oldest, but biggest terminal in the airport.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• On 26 July, The Criminal Investigations Department of Sri Lanka police set up a new security system at the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake to identify criminals.