Nonstop flight route between Maitland, New South Wales, Australia and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Maitland Airport (MTL), Maitland, New South Wales, Australia and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,321 miles (or 10,173 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 Maitland Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant, 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 Maitland Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant. 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 Maitland Airport (MTL):

• The furthest airport from Maitland Airport (MTL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Maitland Airport (meaning Maitland Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,086 miles (19,451 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• During the 1980s, a local company called Club Air linked the airport with Sydney using two 14 seat Australian built GAF Nomad aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Maitland Airport", another name for MTL is "Russell Field".
• The main runway used for arrivals and departures is 05/23, with a paved surface 1,244 by 15 m.
• In 1948, the Rutherford site was chosen by Maitland Aero Club to build an airfield.
• Action Aerobatics are based at the airport and offer advanced aerobatic flight training, as well as aerobatic joy flights.
• The closest airport to Maitland Airport (MTL) is Cessnock Airport (CES), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) SW of MTL.
• Maitland Airport (MTL) has 3 runways.
• Because of Maitland Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Maitland 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.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• 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.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
• 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.