Nonstop flight route between Mataram (near Praya), Lombok, Indonesia and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lombok International Airport (LOP), Mataram (near Praya), Lombok, Indonesia and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,239 miles (or 13,260 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 Lombok 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 Lombok 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 Lombok International Airport (LOP):

• The first aircraft landing was a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800NG marking the commencement of operations on Saturday, 1 October 2011.
• Lombok International Airport (LOP) currently has only 1 runway.
• When the Lombok International Airport became operational all the existing flight schedules at Lombok's Selaparang Airport were moved across to the new airport.
• In addition to being known as "Lombok International Airport", another name for LOP is "Bandar Udara Internasional Lombok".
• The secretary of commission III NTB Council, Suharto reported in 2010 that the delays to completion of the Lombok International Airport were due to a lack of funding to the order of Rp 76 Billion.
• The completion of the airport project and necessary complementary infrastructure such as a highway connecting to the city of Mataram delayed inauguration of the new airport several times.
• The airport has extensive paved parking areas available at the main terminal and smaller facilities for the cargo terminal and administrative areas.
• The closest airport to Lombok International Airport (LOP) is Selaparang Airport (AMI), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) NW of LOP.
• Because of Lombok International Airport's relatively low elevation of 319 feet, planes can take off or land at Lombok 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.
• Lombok International Airport handled 167,692 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Lombok International Airport (LOP) is San Tomé Airport (SOM), which is nearly antipodal to Lombok International Airport (meaning Lombok International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from San Tomé Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in San Tomé, Venezuela.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
• 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.
• 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.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• 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.