Nonstop flight route between Lake City, Florida, United States and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lake City Gateway Airport (LCQ), Lake City, Florida, United States and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,852 miles (or 9,418 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 Lake City Gateway 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 Lake City Gateway 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 Lake City Gateway Airport (LCQ):

• Lake City Gateway Airport (LCQ) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lake City Gateway Airport (LCQ) is Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) SSE of LCQ.
• The NAS Lake City property was deemed surplus and subsequently conveyed to the city of Lake City by the General Services Administration.
• Because of Lake City Gateway Airport's relatively low elevation of 201 feet, planes can take off or land at Lake City Gateway 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.
• Although the Navy departed Lake City over 60 years ago, its comparatively long main runway, operational Non-Federal Air Traffic Control Tower, and minimal air traffic makes it a popular location for transient P-3C Orions from NAS Jacksonville and HC-130 Hercules and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from Moody AFB to practice approaches and touch-and-go landings.
• The furthest airport from Lake City Gateway Airport (LCQ) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,409 miles (18,361 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• 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.
• 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 March 2012, the Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for Aerolineas Argentinas flights to Buenos Aires to replace LAN Airlines flights to Chile.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.