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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Lympne Airport (LYM), Lympne, Kent, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,910 miles (or 12,729 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 Lympne 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 Lympne 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):

• The British government felt that Stanley airfield was not the best option for a large, permanent station and decided to construct a new RAF station and make it the centrepiece of considerably strengthened air defences for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich 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.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.

Facts about Lympne Airport (LYM):

• During the General Strike of 1926, which ran from 3–13 May, the Daily Mail was printed in Paris and flown from there to Lympne on Handley Page W.10 Imperial Airways aircraft.
• Because of Lympne Airport's relatively low elevation of 351 feet, planes can take off or land at Lympne 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.
• In addition to being known as "Lympne Airport", another name for LYM is "Ashford Airport".
• Lympne Airport (LYM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Lympne was also involved in the evolution of air traffic control, with facilities developing and improving during the 1920s and 1930s.
• The furthest airport from Lympne Airport (LYM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,921 miles (19,184 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• A Junkers F.13 called at Lympne on 10 January 1923 to clear customs and then flew to Croydon where it was inspected by Secretary of State for Air Sir Samuel Hoare.
• A meeting was held over the Easter weekend in 1928 by the Cinque Ports Flying Club.
• In September 1939, the base was renamed HMS Daedalus II, but was transferred back to the RAF in May 1940.
• In April 1935, Air Traffic Control in the United Kingdom was improved by the introduction of a new control zone system.
• The closest airport to Lympne Airport (LYM) is Lydd International Airport (LYX), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SSW of LYM.