Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Rio Grande, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), Rio Grande, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,400 miles (or 2,254 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 relatively short distance between RAF Mount Pleasant and Rio Grande Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG):

• Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) is Fukue Airport (FUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Rio Grande Regional Airport (meaning Rio Grande Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fukue Airport), and is located 12,366 miles (19,901 kilometers) away in Gotō, Nagasaki, Japan.
• Because of Rio Grande Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Rio Grande Regional 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 closest airport to Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) is Pelotas International Airport (PET), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNW of RIG.
• In addition to being known as "Rio Grande Regional Airport", other names for RIG include "Aeroporto Regional de Rio Grande" and "SJRG".