Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Lahad Datu Airport (LDU), Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,199 miles (or 14,804 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 Lahad Datu 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 Lahad Datu 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):

• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.

Facts about Lahad Datu Airport (LDU):

• The furthest airport from Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Lahad Datu Airport (meaning Lahad Datu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,319 miles (19,826 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Lahad Datu Airport handled 99,983 passengers last year.
• Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Lahad Datu Airport", another name for LDU is "Lapangan Terbang Lahad Datu 拿笃机场".
• Because of Lahad Datu Airport's relatively low elevation of 45 feet, planes can take off or land at Lahad Datu 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 closest airport to Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Semporna Airport (SMM), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SSE of LDU.