Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Colombo, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Colombo, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,774 miles (or 9,293 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 Shannon 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 Shannon 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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 Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle.
• In 2011, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7.4% from 1,755,885, to 1,625,549.
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• In 1990, the US-Irish bilateral agreement was changed to allow Irish airlines to serve Los Angeles and additional US airlines to serve Dublin via Shannon.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is Ratmalana Airport (RML), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) S of CMB.
• 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.
• Bandaranaike International Airport handled 7,328,798 passengers last year.
• The airport is undergoing resurfacing of its runway.
• In 1964 Anil Moonesinghe, the Cabinet Minister of Communications, started the building of a new international airport to replace Ratmalana, with Canadian aid.
• Once the Phase II is completed the airport will have 50 parking bays, including 17 in the proposed Apron Echo.