Nonstop flight route between Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,725 miles (or 12,433 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO):

• The furthest airport from Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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.
• In addition to being known as "Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport", another name for FCO is "Fiumicino – Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci".
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) has 4 runways.
• In May 2006, Italy's Civil Aviation Authority announced that it took off the limitation of 3 ramp handlers in Rome Leonardo da Vinci airport.
• Since 2005 the airport operates a category III B instrument landing system.
• The closest airport to Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) E of FCO.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport handled 36,166,345 passengers last year.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• 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.
• 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.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.