Nonstop flight route between Kolwezi, Lualaba District, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kolwezi Airport (KWZ), Kolwezi, Lualaba District, Democratic Republic of the Congo and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,378 miles (or 8,654 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 Kolwezi 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 Kolwezi 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 Kolwezi Airport (KWZ):

• The furthest airport from Kolwezi Airport (KWZ) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,817 miles (19,018 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Kolwezi Airport (KWZ) is Solwezi Airport (SLI), which is located 113 miles (183 kilometers) SSE of KWZ.
• Kolwezi Airport (KWZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kolwezi Airport's high elevation of 5,007 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KWZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KWZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (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.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates a scheduled commercial flight to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport of the Punta Arenas city in southern Chile, stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.
• 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.