Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Kōchi, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Kōchi Airport (KCZ), Kōchi, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,600 miles (or 9,012 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 Kōchi 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 Kōchi 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 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.
• The airport is located at the former Castle Air Force Base which closed in 1995.
• 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 Kōchi Airport (KCZ):

• The 120 ha airport has a single runway handling small to medium size aircraft.
• Kōchi Airport (KCZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kōchi Airport (KCZ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kōchi Airport (meaning Kōchi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,083 miles (19,446 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• On 13 March 2007, All Nippon Airways Flight 1603, a Bombardier Dash 8, bound from Osaka to Kōchi, landed safely at the Kochi Airport after the front wheel of the plane failed to deploy.
• Because of Kōchi Airport's relatively low elevation of 29 feet, planes can take off or land at Kōchi 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kōchi Airport", another name for KCZ is "高知空港".
• Kōchi Airport was originally built in 1944 as Kōchi Airfield for the Imperial Japanese Navy and from 1945 to 1952 the airport was under command of US forces.
• The closest airport to Kōchi Airport (KCZ) is Takamatsu Airport (TAK), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) NNE of KCZ.