Nonstop flight route between Charleroi, Wallonia, Belgium and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), Charleroi, Wallonia, Belgium and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,965 miles (or 12,818 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 Brussels South Charleroi 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 Brussels South Charleroi 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 Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL):

• Gosselies airfield became a public aerodrome after World War II, but the main activities of the site remained aeronautical constructions.
• Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Operations at Brussels-South Charleroi grew in the 1990s, with a new commercial management structure and the arrival of Irish low cost airline Ryanair in 1997, which opened its first continental base at Charleroi a few years later.
• In addition to being known as "Brussels South Charleroi Airport", another name for CRL is "Aéroport de Charleroi Bruxelles Sud".
• In the 1970s, the Belgian national airline Sabena launched a Liège-Charleroi-London service, but this was soon dropped because of poor results.
• Brussels South Charleroi Airport handled 6,516,427 passengers last year.
• A special bus operates to Charleroi-South railway station.
• Because of Brussels South Charleroi Airport's relatively low elevation of 614 feet, planes can take off or land at Brussels South Charleroi 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.
• During World War II, the site was arranged as an Advanced Landing Ground for the allied air forces, from 14 September 1944 until 10 August 1945.
• The closest airport to Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is Brussels Airport (BRU), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) N of CRL.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• The British government felt that Stanley airfield was not the best option for a large, permanent station and decided to construct a new RAF station and make it the centrepiece of considerably strengthened air defences for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• There is also a Joint Communications Unit providing the electronic warfare and command and control systems for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
• 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.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.