Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Gweru, Zimbabwe:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from MPN to GWE:
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- About this route
- MPN Airport Information
- GWE Airport Information
- Facts about MPN
- Facts about GWE
- Map of Nearest Airports to MPN
- List of Nearest Airports to MPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from MPN
- List of Furthest Airports from MPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWE
- List of Nearest Airports to GWE
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWE
- List of Furthest Airports from GWE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,100 miles (or 8,208 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base, 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MPN / EGYP |
Airport Name: | RAF Mount Pleasant |
Location: | Falkland Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°49'22"S by 58°26'49"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from MPN |
More Information: | MPN Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWE / FVTL |
Airport Name: | Gweru-Thornhill Air Base |
Location: | Gweru, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°26'11"S by 29°51'42"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 4680 feet (1,426 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GWE |
More Information: | GWE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (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.
- RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
- The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
- Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
- Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
- 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.
- 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.
- A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):
- The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
- Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
- Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.