Nonstop flight route between General Santos City, Philippines and Atwater, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between General Santos International Airport (GES), General Santos City, Philippines and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,266 miles (or 11,693 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 General Santos International 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 General Santos International 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 General Santos International Airport (GES):

• Air-conditioned taxicabs and rent-a-car services are readily available at the airport's taxi and bus stand right outside the arrival area of the terminal building.
• The furthest airport from General Santos International Airport (GES) is Itaituba Airport (ITB), which is nearly antipodal to General Santos International Airport (meaning General Santos International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Itaituba Airport), and is located 12,290 miles (19,779 kilometers) away in Itaituba, Pará, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "General Santos International Airport", another name for GES is "Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Heneral SantosTugpahanang Pangkalibutanon sa Heneral SantosPangkalibutan nga Hulugpaan sang Heneral Santos".
• Bigger aircraft such as Boeing 747-400, Airbus 340 and Airbus 330 come to the airport due to tuna cargo and increase of passengers, leaving the airport as the only domestic destination of the Philippine Airlines besides PAL Express.
• General Santos International Airport handled 611,274 passengers last year.
• Cebu Pacific, currently the country's largest low-cost carrier, finally commenced daily flights to and from Manila on October 2, 2006, initially deploying Airbus A319 aircraft.
• General Santos International Airport (GES) currently has only 1 runway.
• Philippine Airlines Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet
• Because of General Santos International Airport's relatively low elevation of 505 feet, planes can take off or land at General Santos International 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 General Santos International Airport (GES) is Allah Valley Airport (AAV), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) NW of GES.

Facts about Castle Airport (MER):

• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• The airport is located at the former Castle Air Force Base which closed in 1995.
• 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 furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• 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.