Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Newport News, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF), Newport News, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,242 miles (or 10,046 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 Newport News/Williamsburg International 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 Newport News/Williamsburg International 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):

• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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 are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.

Facts about Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF):

• On December 19, 1980, the Daily Press reported a committee authorized by the PAC recommended that the airport change its name to "Newport News/Williamsburg International" to then-Executive Director Michael White.
• In 1951, the original passenger terminal was damaged by a fire.
• The airport has handled more than one million passengers every year since 2005.
• Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport", another name for PHF is "Patrick Henry Field".
• The closest airport to Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) is Langley Field (LFI), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of PHF.
• Because of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Newport News/Williamsburg International 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 furthest airport from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,749 miles (18,908 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Frontier Airlines began nonstop service from Newport News in 2010 as the airport was finishing a $23 million renovation.