Nonstop flight route between Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belfast International Airport (BFS), Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,944 miles (or 12,785 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 Belfast International Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant, 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 Belfast International Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant. 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 Belfast International Airport (BFS):

• A new International Pier was built together with lounge facilities and car parks, while an additional apron was provided to separate the smaller general aviation aircraft from large commercial jets.
• Belfast International has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
• In 1983 the airport, renamed Belfast International, was regularly accommodating the largest civil aircraft in service, and with the installation of new technology was capable of all weather operations.
• The closest airport to Belfast International Airport (BFS) is George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) E of BFS.
• Belfast International Airport is a major airport located 11.5 NM northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland.
• The furthest airport from Belfast International Airport (BFS) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,847 miles (19,065 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Belfast International Airport", another name for BFS is "Belfast/Aldergrove Airport".
• During the Second World War, Aldergrove remained an RAF base particularly for the Coastal Command.
• Belfast International Airport handled 4,023,336 passengers last year.
• Despite these additional flights, passengers at Belfast International did not rise beyond 6 million in 2008 as some had predicted but in fact fell by 10,000 passengers to 5.2 million.
• Belfast International Airport (BFS) has 2 runways.
• In 2005 Continental Airlines launched the first ever direct scheduled service to Newark, and direct scheduled services were later introduced to Vancouver with Zoom Airlines but have now ceased following the carrier's demise in August 2008.
• Because of Belfast International Airport's relatively low elevation of 268 feet, planes can take off or land at Belfast 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.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Mount Pleasant (meaning RAF Mount Pleasant is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
• Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates a scheduled commercial flight to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport of the Punta Arenas city in southern Chile, stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.
• On 2 March 2012, the Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for Aerolineas Argentinas flights to Buenos Aires to replace LAN Airlines flights to Chile.
• RAF Mount Pleasant has a wide range of social and sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pool, golf course, diving centre, karting, laserquest, library, cinema, bowling, climbing wall and indoor and outdoor sports pitches.
• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.