Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,703 miles (or 12,398 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 King Abdulaziz 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 King Abdulaziz 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• 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 the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.

Facts about King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED):

• Southward, Prince Majed Street will connect to the Al-Laith Highway, forming a fast north-south transit route.
• The closest airport to King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) is Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) E of JED.
• King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) has 3 runways.
• King Abdulaziz International Airport handled 27,111,000 passengers last year.
• Over 17 million passengers use Jeddah-KAIA airport every year.
• Designed by the famous Bangladeshi engineer Fazlur Khan of the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, it is known for its tentlike roof structure, engineered by Horst Berger.
• In addition to being known as "King Abdulaziz International Airport", another name for JED is "مطار الملك عبدالعزيز الدولي".
• Because of King Abdulaziz International Airport's relatively low elevation of 48 feet, planes can take off or land at King Abdulaziz International 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.
• The three new crescent-shaped passenger halls will be located to the south of the current international terminal which will be undergoing renovation at the same time.
• The furthest airport from King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to King Abdulaziz International Airport (meaning King Abdulaziz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,277 miles (19,758 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.