Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Ohio, United States and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK), Columbus, Ohio, United States and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,501 miles (or 10,462 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 Rickenbacker 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 Rickenbacker 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 Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK):

• The base was recommended for closure by the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, but as a result of a proposal by the State of Ohio, the 1993 Commission recommended that Rickenbacker ANGB be realigned rather than closed.
• Because of Rickenbacker International Airport's relatively low elevation of 744 feet, planes can take off or land at Rickenbacker 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 closest airport to Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) is Port Columbus International Airport (CMH), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) N of LCK.
• The furthest airport from Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,363 miles (18,287 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The base was transferred from the Strategic Air Command to the Air National Guard and redesignated Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base on April 1, 1980.
• Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) has 2 runways.
• In December 2006 PlanetSpace entered negotiations with the Ohio government to build a spaceport at Rickenbacker.
• In August 2001 construction started on a new, consolidated Navy and Marine Corps Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker International Airport.
• In March 2012 Direct Air suspended operations from the airport.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• 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 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• 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.