Nonstop flight route between Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR), Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,512 miles (or 5,652 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 Pinto Martins – Fortaleza 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 Pinto Martins – Fortaleza 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 Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR):

• In February 1998 a brand-new passenger terminal was opened.
• Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport handled 5,952,629 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) is Gov. Dix-Sept Rosado Airport (MVF), which is located 127 miles (204 kilometers) SE of FOR.
• In addition to being known as "Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport", another name for FOR is "Aeroporto Internacional Pinto Martins – Fortaleza".
• Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Pinto Martins – Fortaleza 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.
• The airport has its origins on a runway built in the 1930s and which was used by the Ceará Flying School until 2000.
• The furthest airport from Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) is Batom Airport (BXM), which is located 11,999 miles (19,310 kilometers) away in Batom, Indonesia.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.