Nonstop flight route between Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asahikawa Airport (AKJ), Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,320 miles (or 18,218 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 Asahikawa 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 Asahikawa 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 Asahikawa Airport (AKJ):

• The closest airport to Asahikawa Airport (AKJ) is Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE), which is located 65 miles (104 kilometers) NE of AKJ.
• In addition to being known as "Asahikawa Airport", other names for AKJ include "旭川空港" and "Asahikawa Kūkō".
• Asahikawa Airport (AKJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Asahikawa Airport (AKJ) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 11,350 miles (18,267 kilometers) away in Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom.
• Because of Asahikawa Airport's relatively low elevation of 690 feet, planes can take off or land at Asahikawa 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.
• Currently located at Mount Pleasant are No.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• On 2 April 2012, an Uruguayan air company, Air Class Líneas Aéreas, gained permission from the Uruguayan Ministry of Defence to start a commercial flight to the Falkland Islands.
• 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.