Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Oita, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Oita Airport (OIT), Oita, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,689 miles (or 9,155 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 Castle Airport and Oita Airport, 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 Castle Airport and Oita Airport. 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 Castle Airport (MER):

• It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.
• Castle Airport is a public use airport located seven nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Merced, a city in Merced County, California, United States.
• EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl spill areas.
• The EPA currently has this base listed on their database due to the bulk wastes such as solvents, oils, fuels, and sludges which were disposed in pits at landfills around the base until 1977.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Castle Airport's relatively low elevation of 191 feet, planes can take off or land at Castle 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.

Facts about Oita Airport (OIT):

• In addition to being known as "Oita Airport", another name for OIT is "大分空港".
• Oita Airport (OIT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Oita Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Oita 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 furthest airport from Oita Airport (OIT) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Oita Airport (meaning Oita Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,191 miles (19,619 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Oita Airport (OIT) is Yamaguchi Ube Airport (UBJ), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NW of OIT.