Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Gunungsitoli, Nias Island, Indonesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Binaka Airport (GNS), Gunungsitoli, Nias Island, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,674 miles (or 13,959 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 Binaka 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 Binaka 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):

• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• 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 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 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.

Facts about Binaka Airport (GNS):

• Binaka Airport (GNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Binaka Airport", another name for GNS is "Bandar Udara Binaka".
• The furthest airport from Binaka Airport (GNS) is Eloy Alfaro International Airport (MEC), which is nearly antipodal to Binaka Airport (meaning Binaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Eloy Alfaro International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Manta, Manabí, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to Binaka Airport (GNS) is Aek Godang Airport (AEG), which is located 120 miles (194 kilometers) E of GNS.
• Because of Binaka Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Binaka 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.