Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Woensdrecht, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Woensdrecht Air Base (WOE), Woensdrecht, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,016 miles (or 12,900 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 Woensdrecht Air Base, 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 Woensdrecht Air Base. 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):

• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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 Woensdrecht Air Base (WOE):

• In addition to being known as "Woensdrecht Air Base", another name for WOE is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-79)".
• The closest airport to Woensdrecht Air Base (WOE) is Antwerp International Airport (ANR), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) SSE of WOE.
• The airport was founded in 1934 as a glider and training airfield for the Royal Dutch Air Force.
• The furthest airport from Woensdrecht Air Base (WOE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,908 miles (19,164 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Woensdrecht Air Base (WOE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Woensdrecht Air Base's relatively low elevation of 63 feet, planes can take off or land at Woensdrecht Air Base 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.