Nonstop flight route between Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and El Centro, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bankstown Airport (BWU), Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK), El Centro, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,605 miles (or 12,239 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 Bankstown Airport and Naval Air Facility El Centro, 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 Bankstown Airport and Naval Air Facility El Centro. 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 Bankstown Airport (BWU):

• In addition to being known as "Bankstown Airport", another name for BWU is "Sydney/Bankstown Airport".
• Bankstown has its own dedicated air traffic control tower, operated by Airservices Australia, and uses Class D airspace procedures.
• The furthest airport from Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Bankstown Airport (meaning Bankstown Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• When General MacArthur arrived in Australia, during World War II, Bankstown Airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces, and was established as a key strategic air base to support the war effort in 1942.
• The airport and the neighbouring Georges River Golf Course together form a suburb which is usually referred to as Bankstown Airport, although the official name is Bankstown Aerodrome.
• De Havilland Australia has been affiliated with the airport opening a factory at the airfield in 1942, occupying the area to the south of the runway.
• The terminal plays host to numerous events year round such as the annual Sydney Aviation Model Show.
• Bankstown Airport (BWU) has 3 runways.
• Because of Bankstown Airport's relatively low elevation of 34 feet, planes can take off or land at Bankstown 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 Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) E of BWU.

Facts about Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK):

• The furthest airport from Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,532 miles (18,558 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) has 2 runways.
• The facility has two operating runways.
• The closest airport to Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Imperial County Airport (IPL), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) E of NJK.
• Much of the movie "Jarhead" was filmed around El Centro and many of the extras from the movie were from NAF El Centro.
• For the first 35 years, the mission of NAF El Centro was devoted to aeronautical escape system testing, evaluation, and design.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Facility El Centro", another name for NJK is "KNJK - FAA: NJK".