Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Pontianak, Kalimantan, Indonesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Supadio International Airport (SPA) (PNK), Pontianak, Kalimantan, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,777 miles (or 14,125 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 Supadio International Airport (SPA), 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 Supadio International Airport (SPA). 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.
• 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.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Mount Pleasant has a wide range of social and sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pool, golf course, diving centre, karting, laserquest, library, cinema, bowling, climbing wall and indoor and outdoor sports pitches.
• 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.

Facts about Supadio International Airport (SPA) (PNK):

• Supadio International Airport (SPA) (PNK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Supadio International Airport (SPA) (PNK) is Fabio Alberto León Bentley Airport (MVP), which is nearly antipodal to Supadio International Airport (SPA) (meaning Supadio International Airport (SPA) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fabio Alberto León Bentley Airport), and is located 12,357 miles (19,886 kilometers) away in Mitú, Colombia.
• Because of Supadio International Airport (SPA)'s relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Supadio International Airport (SPA) 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 airport was originally built in the 1940s as Sungai Durian Airport.
• The closest airport to Supadio International Airport (SPA) (PNK) is Rahadi Usman Airport (KTG), which is located 121 miles (195 kilometers) SSE of PNK.
• In addition to being known as "Supadio International Airport (SPA)", another name for PNK is "Bandar Udara Internasional Supadio (SPA)".