Nonstop flight route between Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile and Atwater, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between El Loa Airport (CJC), Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,327 miles (or 8,574 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 El Loa 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 El Loa 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 El Loa Airport (CJC):

• Because of El Loa Airport's high elevation of 7,543 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CJC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CJC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• El Loa Airport handled 315,725 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from El Loa Airport (CJC) is Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport (WUZ), which is nearly antipodal to El Loa Airport (meaning El Loa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport), and is located 12,369 miles (19,906 kilometers) away in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China.
• The closest airport to El Loa Airport (CJC) is Carolina Airport (CLN), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of CJC.
• The airport served 247,821 in 2004, 273,275 in 2005, and 315,725 in 2006.
• In addition to being known as "El Loa Airport", other names for CJC include "Aeropuerto El Loa" and "El Loa Airdrome".

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.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.