Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Harare, Zimbabwe:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Harare International Airport (HRE), Harare, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,231 miles (or 8,419 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 Harare 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 Harare 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):

• On 2 April 2012, an Uruguayan air company, Air Class Líneas Aéreas, gained permission from the Uruguayan Ministry of Defence to start a commercial flight to the Falkland 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.
• 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.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
• There is also a Joint Communications Unit providing the electronic warfare and command and control systems for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
• 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.

Facts about Harare International Airport (HRE):

• Harare International Airport (HRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Civil aviation regulatory authority, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe has its head office on level 3 of the new International Terminal.
• A site therefore had to be found for the construction of an airport that would be safer and more suitable for commercial activities.
• The airport is today operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and is the hub of Air Zimbabwe.
• The closest airport to Harare International Airport (HRE) is Mutare Airport (UTA), which is located 125 miles (201 kilometers) SE of HRE.
• The furthest airport from Harare International Airport (HRE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Harare International Airport (meaning Harare International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,017 miles (19,339 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Harare International Airport's high elevation of 4,887 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HRE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HRE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In 1949 the government purchased Kentucky and Adair farms east of Salisbury for the construction of the new airport.
• Harare International Airport handled 612,208 passengers last year.