Editing History of the Falkland Islands (section)

===Increased British military presence and new bases===
{{main|RAF Mount Pleasant|Mare Harbour}}
After the war, the British still faced potential future aggression, so an aircraft carrier was kept on station guarding the islands with its [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] of Sea Harriers, while the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft. {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}} took guard duty first, whilst {{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}} went north to change a gearbox. ''Invincible'' then returned to relieve ''Hermes'', which urgently needed to have its boilers cleaned. ''Invincible'' remained until {{HMS|Illustrious|R06|6}} was rushed south (being commissioned during the journey). Once the Port Stanley runway was ready for jets, several RAF [[F-4 Phantom]]s were stationed there, relieving ''Illustrious.''

The islands lacked barracks for a permanent garrison, so the Ministry of defence chartered two former car ferries as [[barracks ship]]s: {{ship|TEV|Rangatira|1971|2}} from the [[Union Company]] of New Zealand and {{MV|Saint Edmund||2}} from [[Sealink]] in Britain.<ref name=NZMaritime>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/r4.htm |last=Castell |first=Marcus |title=The Turbo Electric Vessel Rangatira of 1971 |publisher=The New Zealand Maritime Record |date=2003–2005 |access-date=29 May 2013 |archive-date=14 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914030656/http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/r4.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Rangatira'' arrived in Port Stanley on 11 July 1982 and stayed until 26 September 1983.<ref name=NZMaritime/>

Later, the British government decided to construct a new RAF base as the centrepiece of plans to strengthen the island defences and deter any further attempts to take the Falklands by force. This was a massive undertaking – including construction of the world's longest corridor, {{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=off|spell=in}} linking the barracks, messes, recreation and welfare areas of the base.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20081217070228/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 December 2008|title=News|date=15 March 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}}</ref> The base is occasionally referred to by residents as "the [[Death Star]]" because of its vast size and sometimes confusing layout.

[[File:Mount-Pleasant.JPG|thumb|RAF Mount Pleasant]]
[[RAF Mount Pleasant|Mount Pleasant]], to the west of Stanley, was chosen as the site for the new base. The airfield was opened by [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|The Duke of York]] in 1985, and became fully operational in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.falklands.gov.fk/3.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505083303/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/3.htm|url-status=dead|title=Falkland Islands Government|archivedate=5 May 2006}}</ref>

Using the [[IATA airport code]] MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, in addition to its military role. Flights open to civilian passengers are operated twice-weekly.<ref name=FITB>{{cite web | url= http://www.falklandislands.com/section.php/18/1/by_air/24562579197d5f6acef84dbca8721ee8 | title= Getting Here (By Air) | publisher= Falkland Islands Tourist Board | access-date= 2009-01-05}}</ref>
These flights are currently operated by a civilian airline on behalf of the Royal Air Force, and fly to and from [[RAF Brize Norton]] in [[Oxfordshire]], UK with a refuelling stop at [[RAF Ascension Island]] in the south-central Atlantic Ocean. Chilean airline [[LAN Airlines]] also operate weekly flights from [[Santiago]].<ref name=FITB/>