Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and El Prat de Llobregat (near Barcelona), Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN), El Prat de Llobregat (near Barcelona), Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,907 miles (or 9,506 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 Castle Airport and Barcelona–El Prat 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 Castle Airport and Barcelona–El Prat 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 Castle Airport (MER):

• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Castle Airport covers an area of 1,360 acres which contains one runway with an 11,802 x 150 ft asphalt and concrete pavement.
• The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.

Facts about Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN):

• There is provision for parking cars at the airport, with about 24,000 parking spaces.
• Because of Barcelona–El Prat Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Barcelona–El Prat 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.
• Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) has 3 runways.
• Due to the strong drop in air traffic after 1999 and the crisis in the aviation sector in 2001 many charter operations from Girona and Reus were diverted to El Prat, which helped the airport to survive the crisis.
• In addition to being known as "Barcelona–El Prat Airport", another name for BCN is "Aeroport de Barcelona–El Prat".
• The furthest airport from Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelona–El Prat Airport (meaning Barcelona–El Prat Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The forecast is that the airport will be able to handle 55 million passengers annually and will reach 90 operations an hour.
• The closest airport to Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) is Sabadell Airport (QSA), which is located only 15 miles (25 kilometers) N of BCN.