Nonstop flight route between Bardufoss, Norway and Atwater, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bardufoss Airport (BDU), Bardufoss, Norway and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,793 miles (or 7,714 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 Bardufoss Airport and Castle 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 Bardufoss Airport and Castle 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 Bardufoss Airport (BDU):

• The armed forces signed an agreement with Braathens, resulting in the airline taking over the three weekly Oslo-services from 1 January 1999.
• The closest airport to Bardufoss Airport (BDU) is Tromsø Airport, Langnes (TOS), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) NNE of BDU.
• Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 347, SAS-operated McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route to Bodø Airport and Oslo Airport, Fornebu, was hijacking by Haris Keč on 3 November 1994.
• Bardufoss Airport handled 207,650 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Bardufoss Airport (BDU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,613 miles (17,079 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Norwegian won the tender for military air transport services from 2008, resulting in the airline commencing flights from Bardufoss to Oslo, with SAS terminating the service.
• Bardufoss Airport is a primary airport situated at Bardufoss in Målselv, Norway.
• In addition to being known as "Bardufoss Airport", another name for BDU is "Bardufoss lufthavn".
• Because of Bardufoss Airport's relatively low elevation of 252 feet, planes can take off or land at Bardufoss 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.
• From 1964 the Norwegian Armed Forces organized its own flights through chartered aircraft.Braathens SAFE received permission in 1967 to extend its West Coast route from Bergen to Trondheim onwards to Bodø, Tromsø and Bardufoss.

Facts about Castle Airport (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.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• Castle Air Museum is 500 yards away, displaying over 50 restored World War II, Korean War, and Cold War era aircraft.
• The airport is located at the former Castle Air Force Base which closed in 1995.
• Since the mid-1940s, aircraft maintenance, fuel management, and fire training activities on the base have generated wastes that consist primarily of waste fuels, oils, solvents, and cleaners.
• It was estimated that the cost to relocate the 129 RQW to Castle, to include associated military construction costs, could be recouped in seven years.
• With its central location in the San Joaquin Valley, on the route of the proposed California High-Speed Rail system, and with a large, underdeveloped site, Castle Airport has been submitted as a possible location for the central maintenance facility for the system.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• In 2004, recommendations were made to relocate the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard and its associated HC-130, MC-130 and HH-60 aircraft from Moffett Federal Airfield to the former Castle Air Force Base, now Castle Airport.