Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Tusayan, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,876 miles (or 11,066 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 Grand Canyon National Park 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 Grand Canyon National Park 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.

Facts about Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):

• Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
• On August 16, 2009, Air Force One, carrying President Barack Obama landed at Grand Canyon Airport at about 10am local time, for a four hour visit of the Canyon by the President and his family.
• In addition, the airport was served in the past by America West Airlines operating de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
• The present day facility incorporates the site of the first official Grand Canyon airport, a landing field authorized by the U.S.