Nonstop flight route between Whakatane, New Zealand and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whakatane Airport (WHK), Whakatane, New Zealand and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,397 miles (or 8,686 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 Whakatane 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 Whakatane 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 Whakatane Airport (WHK):

• The closest airport to Whakatane Airport (WHK) is Rotorua International Airport (ROT), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WSW of WHK.
• The furthest airport from Whakatane Airport (WHK) is Granada Airport (GRX), which is nearly antipodal to Whakatane Airport (meaning Whakatane Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Granada Airport), and is located 12,374 miles (19,913 kilometers) away in Granada, Spain.
• Because of Whakatane Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Whakatane 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.
• Whakatane Airport (WHK) has 2 runways.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.