Nonstop flight route between Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Snake Bay Airport (SNB), Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,033 miles (or 12,928 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 Snake Bay 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 Snake Bay 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 Snake Bay Airport (SNB):

• Because of Snake Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Snake Bay 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.
• The closest airport to Snake Bay Airport (SNB) is Garden Point Airport (GPN), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) W of SNB.
• The Royal Australian Air Force built the airfield as a forward fighter aerodrome, during World War II as part of the proposed strategic amphibious operations by Allied forces against the Tanimbar Islands and Kai Islands.
• Snake Bay Airport is located at Milikapiti, Northern Territory on the northern coast of Melville Island, Australia.
• The furthest airport from Snake Bay Airport (SNB) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,936 miles (19,209 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
• Snake Bay Airport (SNB) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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.