Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Balkhash, Kazakhstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Balqash Airport (BXH), Balkhash, Kazakhstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,351 miles (or 16,659 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 Balqash 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 Balqash 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):

• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 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 a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of 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.
• 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.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.

Facts about Balqash Airport (BXH):

• The furthest airport from Balqash Airport (BXH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,053 miles (17,787 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Balkhash Airport is classified as a national aerodrome in the latest AIP.
• Balqash Airport (BXH) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Balqash Airport", another name for BXH is "Аэропорт Балхаш".
• The closest airport to Balqash Airport (BXH) is Sary-Arka Airport (KGF), which is located 207 miles (333 kilometers) NNW of BXH.