Nonstop flight route between Sand Point, Alaska, United States and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sand Point Airport (SDP), Sand Point, Alaska, United States and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,400 miles (or 15,128 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 Sand Point 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 Sand Point 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 Sand Point Airport (SDP):

• The furthest airport from Sand Point Airport (SDP) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,961 miles (17,641 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Sand Point Airport (SDP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sand Point Airport (SDP) is Port Moller Airport (PML), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) N of SDP.
• Because of Sand Point Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sand Point 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):

• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• 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.
• 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 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.