Nonstop flight route between Moulins, Allier, France and Hambantota, Sri Lanka:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (XMU), Moulins, Allier, France and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI), Hambantota, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,319 miles (or 8,561 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 Moulins - Montbeugny 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 Moulins - Montbeugny 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 Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (XMU):

• In addition to being known as "Moulins - Montbeugny Airport", another name for XMU is "Aérodrome de Moulins - Montbeugny".
• Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (XMU) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (XMU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (meaning Moulins - Montbeugny Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,248 miles (19,712 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Moulins - Montbeugny Airport's relatively low elevation of 915 feet, planes can take off or land at Moulins - Montbeugny 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 closest airport to Moulins - Montbeugny Airport (XMU) is Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE), which is located 53 miles (86 kilometers) SSW of XMU.

Facts about Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI):

• 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.
• 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.
• As announced earlier the airport was opened for flight operations on 18 March 2013.
• Construction of phase one began on 27 November 2009 at Mattala.
• The closest airport to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) is Weerawila Airport (WRZ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of HRI.
• On October 2012, the Super King 20 Test Aircraft, which belongs to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Department and features a dual engine, landed on the new runway to test the newly constructed runway and the instrumentation.
• In addition to being known as "Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport", another name for HRI is "මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළமத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ பன்னாட்டு விமான நிலையம்".
• The numbers given to the airport's sole runway is 05 and 23.