Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from MER to PHE:
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- About this route
- MER Airport Information
- PHE Airport Information
- Facts about MER
- Facts about PHE
- Map of Nearest Airports to MER
- List of Nearest Airports to MER
- Map of Furthest Airports from MER
- List of Furthest Airports from MER
- Map of Nearest Airports to PHE
- List of Nearest Airports to PHE
- Map of Furthest Airports from PHE
- List of Furthest Airports from PHE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Port Hedland International Airport (PHE), Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,731 miles (or 14,051 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 Port Hedland International 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 Port Hedland International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MER / KMER |
Airport Name: | Castle Airport |
Location: | Atwater, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°22'50"N by 120°34'5"W |
Operator/Owner: | Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 191 feet (58 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MER |
More Information: | MER Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PHE / YPPD |
Airport Name: | Port Hedland International Airport |
Location: | Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 20°22'40"S by 118°37'35"E |
Area Served: | Port Hedland and South Hedland |
Operator/Owner: | Town of Port Hedland |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 33 feet (10 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from PHE |
More Information: | PHE Maps & Info |
Facts about Castle Airport (MER):
- It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.
- Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- 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.
- EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl spill areas.
Facts about Port Hedland International Airport (PHE):
- The furthest airport from Port Hedland International Airport (PHE) is Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA), which is nearly antipodal to Port Hedland International Airport (meaning Port Hedland International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in The Valley, Anguilla.
- Port Hedland International Airport (PHE) has 2 runways.
- Port Hedland International Airport handled 367,690 passengers last year.
- *Port Hedland-Perth route data only included from August 2009
- Because of Port Hedland International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Hedland 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 Port Hedland International Airport (PHE) is Coolawanyah Station Airport (COY), which is located 113 miles (181 kilometers) SSW of PHE.