Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Cork, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Cork Airport (ORK), Cork, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,042 miles (or 8,114 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 Cork 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 Cork 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):

• In 2004, recommendations were made to relocate the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard and its associated HC-130, MC-130 and HH-60 aircraft from Moffett Federal Airfield to the former Castle Air Force Base, now Castle Airport.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.
• 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 Air Museum is 500 yards away, displaying over 50 restored World War II, Korean War, and Cold War era aircraft.
• 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.

Facts about Cork Airport (ORK):

• In addition to being known as "Cork Airport", another name for ORK is "Aerfort Chorcaí".
• Because of Cork Airport's relatively low elevation of 502 feet, planes can take off or land at Cork 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.
• Cork Airport handled 2,340,141 passengers last year.
• The cargo area, currently located to the north–east of the airport, is planned to be moved to the south–east of the airport grounds, the current location of the general aviation area.
• The closest airport to Cork Airport (ORK) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) WSW of ORK.
• The length of the main runway dictates that the airport cannot handle fully laden large widebody aircraft.
• Cork Airport (ORK) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Cork Airport (ORK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Cork Airport (meaning Cork Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,063 miles (19,413 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Also towards the end of 2001, new Irish regional airline Aer Arann opened its second base at Cork opening new routes to/from the airport.
• Cork Airport is one of the three principal international airports of Ireland, along with Dublin and Shannon.
• A Great Southern Hotel was opened on the airport grounds during 2001, and plans were drawn up for the construction of a new terminal building and ancillary capital investment works at an estimated cost of €140 million.
• Along with the construction of the terminal, roads were upgraded from single to dual carriageway and re-aligned, a new short term multi-storey car park constructed and key services enhanced to the highest international standards.