Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,737 miles (or 12,451 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 RAF Mount Pleasant and Al-Baha Domestic Airport, 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 RAF Mount Pleasant and Al-Baha Domestic Airport. 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 RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT):

• In addition to being known as "Al-Baha Domestic Airport", another name for ABT is "مطار الباحة المحلي".
• The closest airport to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Bisha Domestic Airport (BHH), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) ESE of ABT.
• Because of Al-Baha Domestic Airport's high elevation of 5,486 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ABT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ABT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (meaning Al-Baha Domestic Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.