RAF Mount Pleasant Stanley

The RAF Mount Pleasant Stanley Airport facility operates as both a commercial airport and military base in the Falkland Islands, became fully-functional 1985 and is the only gateway for international tourist traveling by air. Civilian flights run twice weekly to and from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, and are operated by Titian Airways, Air Tahiti Nui and Air Seychelles. The only direct route flies every Saturday from Presidente Carlos Ibanez del Campo International Airport located in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas. The flight is operated by LAN Airlines. Routes to the airport are expected to increase after Uruguayan air company Air Class Lineas Aereas was granted permission to begin commercial flights in early 2012.

Due to the presence of around 2,000 British military personnel, the RAF Mount Pleasant is equipped with a range of leisure and sporting facilities including a cinema, bowling alley, swimming pool, golf course and the archipelago’s only cricket pitch. A complex with one café and one shop are also present on site. Taxis and a bus service run from the airport to Stanley.

Port Stanley Airport

Located two miles away from the capital, Port Stanley Airport only handles inter-island flights operated by FIGAS. It is the only fully-civilian airport with a paved runway in the archipelago and flies to a number of destinations located around East and West Falkland, in addition to grassed airstrips situated on the smaller islands. Facilities are limited, but taxis to Stanley and other nearby destinations are available outside the arrivals door.