Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Guadalajara, Mexico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL), Guadalajara, Mexico would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,683 miles (or 9,147 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 Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International 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 Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International 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.
• Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates a scheduled commercial flight to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport of the Punta Arenas city in southern Chile, stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL):

• Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport", another name for GDL is "Aeropuerto Internacional Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla".
• The airport is named for Miguel Hidalgo, who began the war that brought Mexican independence from Spain.
• The furthest airport from Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,571 miles (18,621 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL) is Licenciado Miguel de la Madrid Airport (CLQ), which is located 88 miles (141 kilometers) SSW of GDL.
• The airport is being renovated and expanded under a project that will allow it to double its operating capacity by 2007.
• Because of Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport's high elevation of 5,016 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GDL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GDL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.