Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,972 miles (or 12,830 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 RAF Lakenheath, 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 RAF Lakenheath. 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):

• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.