Nonstop flight route between King City, California, United States and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC), King City, California, United States and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,160 miles (or 11,524 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC):

• In addition to being known as "Mesa Del Rey Airport", other names for KIC include "(former King City Airport)" and "(former King City Naval Aux. Air Station)".
• Because of Mesa Del Rey Airport's relatively low elevation of 374 feet, planes can take off or land at Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,390 miles (18,330 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Opened in April 1940 as Palo Alto Airport or King City Airport.
• The closest airport to Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Roberts Army Heliport (SYL), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) SE of KIC.
• Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Military control of the airport was transferred to the United States Navy in April 1945.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 10 November 2011, it was announced that Prince William would be serving as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.
• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.