Nonstop flight route between Watertown, South Dakota, United States and Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Watertown Regional Airport (ATY), Watertown, South Dakota, United States and Port Stanley Airport (PSY), Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,075 miles (or 11,385 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 Watertown Regional Airport and Port Stanley 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 Watertown Regional Airport and Port Stanley 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 Watertown Regional Airport (ATY):

• B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator units underwent advanced training before going overseas.
• In addition to being known as "Watertown Regional Airport", another name for ATY is "Watertown Army Airfield".
• Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,571 miles (17,013 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Brookings Regional Airport (BKX), which is located 45 miles (73 kilometers) SSE of ATY.

Facts about Port Stanley Airport (PSY):

• Prior to 1972, there was no airport in the Falkland Islands with a paved runway, and all trips to the islands had to be undertaken by boat.
• Port Stanley Airport (PSY) has 2 runways.
• Because of Port Stanley Airport's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Stanley 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 Port Stanley Airport (PSY) is RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) WSW of PSY.
• The furthest airport from Port Stanley Airport (PSY) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to Port Stanley Airport (meaning Port Stanley Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,877 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
• In 1985, RAF Mount Pleasant opened and in April 1986 Port Stanley Airport returned to civilian use.
• In 1971, the Argentine Air Force broke the islands' isolation starting with amphibious flights from Comodoro Rivadavia with Grumman HU-16B Albatross aircraft operated by LADE, Argentina's military airline.
• During the war the Argentines also heavily mined Yorke Bay to the north of the airport and Surf/Rookery Bays to the southeast with minimum metal mines under the presumption the British would attempt an amphibious landing on the east coast of East Falkland to quickly recapture both the airfield and Stanley in one fell swoop.