Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Punta Gorda, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Punta Gorda Airport (PGD), Punta Gorda, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,625 miles (or 9,052 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 Punta Gorda 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 Punta Gorda 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• 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 Punta Gorda Airport (PGD):

• In addition to being known as "Punta Gorda Airport", another name for PGD is "(Formerly Charlotte County Airport)".
• All base officers and some senior non-commissioned officers lived in Punta Gorda, while all student officers and most enlisted men lived in tent structures on the base.
• In 2010 enplanements only totaled 90,240, making PGD the least used airport in Florida by scheduled airline passengers.
• In 1941 the US Army Corps of Engineers built an airfield on the current airport property as a combat pilot training base for the US Army Air Forces' Third Air Force, naming the facility Punta Gorda Army Airfield.
• Airline service resumed on November 22, 2008 when low-cost carrier Direct Air began twice weekly service to 10 cities in the eastern US.
• Punta Gorda Airport handled 149,141 passengers last year.
• The airport has mainly been used by single engine and small jet aircraft, but has recently seen more scheduled airline service.
• The airport saw no large airlines after the early 1980s in the aftermath of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.
• The furthest airport from Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,471 miles (18,461 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is Page Field (FMY), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SSE of PGD.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 147,698 enplanements in calendar year 2011, an increase from 87,041 in 2010.
• Because of Punta Gorda Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Punta Gorda 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 27th Service Group, an all-black unit, was moved from McDill Field near Tampa to provide training for support services to the air combat units.
• Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) has 3 runways.