Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Northampton / Peterborough, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Sywell Aerodrome (ORM), Northampton / Peterborough, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,934 miles (or 12,768 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 Sywell Aerodrome, 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 Sywell Aerodrome. 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 closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Sywell Aerodrome (ORM):

• The organizations STARE and CPRE campaigned against this change, arguing that it would lead to more and larger aircraft flying over the area and disturb its "rural tranquility".
• The furthest airport from Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,838 miles (19,051 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Since 1999, the aerodrome has sought planning permission for a hard runway, which was intended to allow operations to continue over the winter, when the grass runways often become waterlogged.
• In addition to being known as "Sywell Aerodrome", another name for ORM is "Northampton/Sywell Aerodrome".
• Because of Sywell Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Sywell Aerodrome 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 Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) is Milton Keynes Airport (KYN), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) S of ORM.
• Many aerial shots for the film Battle of Britain were taken over the airport and nearby area.
• The Light Aircraft Association, is the UK's body for amateur aircraft construction, and recreational and sport flying.
• Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) has 4 runways.