Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Carcassonne, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Carcassonne Airport (CCF), Carcassonne, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,816 miles (or 9,361 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 Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne 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):

• The airport is located at the former Castle Air Force Base which closed in 1995.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Carcassonne Airport (CCF):

• Carcassonne Airport (CCF) has 2 runways.
• Because of Carcassonne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) N of CCF.
• In addition to being known as "Carcassonne Airport", another name for CCF is "Aéroport de Carcassonne".
• In 2011, the airport served 368,000 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Carcassonne Airport (meaning Carcassonne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.