Nonstop flight route between Qingdao, Shandong, China and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO), Qingdao, Shandong, China and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,360 miles (or 18,283 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 Qingdao Liuting International 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 Qingdao Liuting International 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 Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO):

• Qingdao Liuting International Airport handled 12,601,152 passengers last year.
• Because of Qingdao Liuting International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Qingdao Liuting International 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 Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Weifang Airport (WEF), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) WNW of TAO.
• The furthest airport from Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Las Flores Airport (ELB), which is nearly antipodal to Qingdao Liuting International Airport (meaning Qingdao Liuting International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Las Flores Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,963 kilometers) away in El Banco, Colombia.
• In addition to being known as "Qingdao Liuting International Airport", other names for TAO include "青岛流亭国际机场" and "Qīngdǎo Liútíng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• From 2004 to 2006, the airport underwent an expansion of its terminal as well as adding more parking spaces which was part of its initial 2010 goal to expand Liuting Airport to handle 5.2 million passengers annually or 2400 passengers and almost 120,000 tons of cargo hourly.
• Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In December 2013, the Chinese government approved the construction of Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport which will replace Liuting as Qingdao's main airport.

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.
• 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.
• A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.
• On 2 April 2012, an Uruguayan air company, Air Class Líneas Aéreas, gained permission from the Uruguayan Ministry of Defence to start a commercial flight to the Falkland Islands.
• 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.
• 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.