RAF Mount Pleasant

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Mount Plesant Airport
IATA: MPN - ICAO: EGYP
Summary
Airport type		Joint (Civil and Military)
Operator		RAF
Serves		Stanley
Elevation AMSL		243 ft (74 m)
Coordinates		51°49′22″S, 058°26′50″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
10/28	8,497	2,590	Asphalt
5/23	5,003	1,525	Asphalt

RAF Mount Pleasant (IATA: MPN, ICAO: EGYP) (also known as Mount Pleasant Airport or Mount Pleasant Complex)^[1] is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). The base, home to anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, is located about thirty miles southwest of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, on the island of East Falkland. The world's longest corridor, a half-mile long, links barracks, messes and recreational and welfare areas of the base. ^[2] The base is occasionally referred to by its residents as the Death Star because of its sometimes confusing layout.

1 History
2 Current equipment
3 Passenger flights
4 See also
5 Sources

[edit] History

RAF Mount Pleasant is the most recent purpose-built airfield in the Royal Air Force.^[3] The RAF previously had a small base at Stanley. In 1982 during Falklands War when the islands were occupied by Argentine military forces, British aircraft attempted to destroy that base. However, none of the Vulcan bomber raids actually destroyed the Stanley runway, nor did they prevent the Argentines using the runway. The craters seen (see image in external link) were in fact heaps of earth placed there by the Argentines to make it look as though the runway was damaged.^[4]

After the war ended, the British still faced the problem of potential Argentine aggression in the future, 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. HMS Hermes was the first to take guard duty, whilst HMS Invincible went north to change a gearbox (Argentines claimed the aircraft carrier was hit on May 30, and needed repairs). Invincible then returned to relieve Hermes which urgently needed to return to the UK to have its boilers cleaned. Invincible returned until the ship was relieved by HMS Illustrious, which was rushed south so quickly that it was actually commissioned during the journey. Once Port Stanley runway was available for jets, Illustrious was relieved by several RAF Phantoms.

The British government then decided to construct a new RAF base to strengthen the island's defences. Mount Pleasant, to the west of Stanley, was chosen. The airfield was opened by The Duke of York in 1985, and becamed fully operational in 1986.^[5]

[edit] Current equipment

RAF Mount Pleasant has a wide range of social and sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pool, golf course, diving centre, go-karting, laserquest, library, cinema, bowling, climbing wall, indoor and outdoor sports pitches. There are two NAAFI shops, hairdressers, medical centre, and education centre on the base. There is also a complex that includes a café and a small shop (RO NO KEs), which are both owned and run by the Falkland Islands Company.^[6]

Currently based at Mount Pleasant are No. 1435 Flight with 4 Tornado F3s, No. 1312 Flight, with a single VC-10 tanker and one Hercules C130, as well as No 78 Squadron with Sea King helicopters. Ground units include No 7, 303, and 751 Signals Units and a Rapier detachment from the RAF Regiment.^[7]^[8]

The 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD) provides a constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams. It is mainly based in Stanley but there is also a detachment at Mount Pleasant. The group destroys munitions from the Falklands War that did not explode at the time and briefs troops, tourists and citizens on the areas which are safe and the minefield marking which have been put in place.^[9]

There is also a Joint Communications Unit (JCU) providing the electronic warfare and command and control systems for the Royal Navy, Army and Air Force stationed there.^[10]

[edit] Passenger flights

Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role. Flights open to civilian passengers are operated six times each month by the Royal Air Force to and from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom with a refuelling stop at RAF Ascension Island in the south-central Atlantic Ocean. RAF flights are on TriStar aircraft, although it is common for charter aircraft from Air Luxor to be used if the TriStars are required for operational flights.

Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates scheduled commercial flights to the city of Punta Arenas in southern Chile stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.