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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and China Bay Airport (TRR), Trincomalee, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,754 miles (or 9,260 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 China Bay 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 China Bay 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):

• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• The 1960s proved to be difficult for Shannon Airport.
• Shannon continued to expand during the Celtic Tiger years with many services operated to the US and Canada.
• In 2011, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7.4% from 1,755,885, to 1,625,549.
• CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle.
• 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.
• Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport through 2008.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".

Facts about China Bay Airport (TRR):

• Because of China Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at China Bay 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.
• Originally built by the British during their Empire colonial times, it was transferred to the Royal Ceylonese Air Force which later became the Sri Lanka Air Force.
• The furthest airport from China Bay Airport (TRR) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,625 miles (18,709 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to China Bay Airport (TRR) is Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) WSW of TRR.
• In addition to being known as "China Bay Airport", another name for TRR is "சீனக்குடா விமான நிலையம்චීන වරාය ගුවන්තොටුපළ".
• China Bay Airport (TRR) currently has only 1 runway.
• After independence, the British maintained two military airfields in Ceylon, the Royal Air Force station at RAF Katunayake and the naval base in Trincomalee, and camps at Diyatalawa.