Nonstop flight route between Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Santa Ana, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AWD to NZJ:
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- About this route
- AWD Airport Information
- NZJ Airport Information
- Facts about AWD
- Facts about NZJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWD
- List of Nearest Airports to AWD
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWD
- List of Furthest Airports from AWD
- Map of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- List of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NZJ
- List of Furthest Airports from NZJ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Aniwa Airport (AWD), Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,015 miles (or 9,680 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 Aniwa Airport and MCAS El Toro, 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 Aniwa Airport and MCAS El Toro. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWD / NVVB |
Airport Name: | Aniwa Airport |
Location: | Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°14'3"S by 169°36'2"E |
Area Served: | Aniwa, Taféa, Vanuatu |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 69 feet (21 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from AWD |
More Information: | AWD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NZJ / KNZJ |
Airport Name: | MCAS El Toro |
Location: | Santa Ana, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°40'33"N by 117°43'51"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Marine Corps |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 383 feet (117 meters) |
# of Runways: | 5 |
View all routes: | Routes from NZJ |
More Information: | NZJ Maps & Info |
Facts about Aniwa Airport (AWD):
- The closest airport to Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Ipota Airport (IPA), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NW of AWD.
- Because of Aniwa Airport's relatively low elevation of 69 feet, planes can take off or land at Aniwa 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 Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Tichitt Airport (THI), which is nearly antipodal to Aniwa Airport (meaning Aniwa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tichitt Airport), and is located 12,358 miles (19,888 kilometers) away in Tichitt, Mauritania.
Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):
- Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.
- The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
- MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
- Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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.
- Before the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site.
- Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast.
- The land originally surrounding the base was mostly at agricultural use when it first opened, but it the late 1980s and early 1990s, residential development started to begin in the area.
- The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific.
- The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.