Nonstop flight route between Galway, Ireland and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Galway Airport (GWY), Galway, Ireland and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,806 miles (or 12,563 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 Galway 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 Galway 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 Galway Airport (GWY):

• Because of Galway Airport's relatively low elevation of 81 feet, planes can take off or land at Galway 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 furthest airport from Galway Airport (GWY) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Galway Airport (GWY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Galway Airport (GWY) is Connemara Airport (NNR), which is located 22 miles (36 kilometers) WSW of GWY.
• The airport caters to general aviation with Galway Flying Club which provides fixed-wing training and leisure flying.
• Since 2008 numbers and routes have dropped considerably with only Aer Arann routes to Luton, Lorient, Manchester and Edinburgh remaining.
• In June 2011 the Government announced that funding for Galway Airport will cease by December 2011.
• The runway was extended to 1200 metres and completed on 2 March 1987.
• In addition to being known as "Galway Airport", another name for GWY is "Aerphort na Gaillimhe".

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (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.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• On 2 March 2012, the Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for Aerolineas Argentinas flights to Buenos Aires to replace LAN Airlines flights to Chile.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.