Nonstop flight route between Porto, Portugal and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), Porto, Portugal and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,088 miles (or 11,407 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO):

• In addition to being known as "Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport", another name for OPO is "Aeroporto Francisco Sá Carneiro".
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Horta, Faro, Flores, Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• The furthest airport from Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Westport Airport (WSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (meaning Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Westport Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Westport, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of OPO.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport handled 6,050,094 passengers last year.
• In 2007, the airport was voted the Best Airport in Europe in the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International.
• Because of Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Francisco Sá Carneiro 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):

• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• 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.
• On 10 November 2011, it was announced that Prince William would be serving as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.
• 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.
• 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.
• After the surrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potential Argentine air attacks from Argentina, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.