Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Sármellék, Hungary:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Hévíz-Balaton Airport (SOB), Sármellék, Hungary would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,140 miles (or 13,100 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 Hévíz-Balaton 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 Hévíz-Balaton 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):

• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• 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.
• Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates a scheduled commercial flight to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport of the Punta Arenas city in southern Chile, stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.
• 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.

Facts about Hévíz-Balaton Airport (SOB):

• Because of Hévíz-Balaton Airport's relatively low elevation of 408 feet, planes can take off or land at Hévíz-Balaton 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.
• Hévíz-Balaton Airport (SOB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Hévíz-Balaton Airport (SOB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,746 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Its importance is due to the proximity of Lake Balaton, Hungary's most important holiday resort and the thermal spas of Hévíz and Zalakaros.
• Due to financial problems, the airport closed over the winter period 2008–09, but closed indefinitely on 10 October 2009.
• In addition to being known as "Hévíz-Balaton Airport", another name for SOB is "Hévíz-Balaton Repülőtér".
• In 2012 the airport has also got a new name, since April it is known as Hévíz-Balaton Airport.
• The closest airport to Hévíz-Balaton Airport (SOB) is Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport (MBX), which is located 71 miles (115 kilometers) W of SOB.