Nonstop flight route between Kuruman, South Africa and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH), Kuruman, South Africa and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,414 miles (or 7,104 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 Johan Pienaar 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 Johan Pienaar 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 Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH):

• Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is nearly antipodal to Johan Pienaar Airport (meaning Johan Pienaar Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Princeville Airport), and is located 12,032 miles (19,364 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Johan Pienaar Airport's high elevation of 4,382 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KMH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KMH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH) is Kimberley Airport (KIM), which is located 124 miles (200 kilometers) SE of KMH.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.