Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Valle Airport (VLE), Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,858 miles (or 11,036 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 Valle 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 Valle 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):

• 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.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 2 March 2012, the Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for Aerolineas Argentinas flights to Buenos Aires to replace LAN Airlines flights to Chile.
• 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.

Facts about Valle Airport (VLE):

• For the 12-month period ending April 20, 2009, the airport had 6,500 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 18 per day.
• In addition to being known as "Valle Airport", another name for VLE is "40G".
• The furthest airport from Valle Airport (VLE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,305 miles (18,194 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Valle Airport, is a public airport located 25 nm south of Valle, Arizona.
• The closest airport to Valle Airport (VLE) is Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) N of VLE.
• Because of Valle Airport's high elevation of 5,999 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VLE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VLE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Valle Airport covers an area of 330 acres at an elevation of 5,999 feet above mean sea level.
• Valle Airport (VLE) currently has only 1 runway.