Nonstop flight route between Mekane Selam, Ethiopia and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mekane Selam Airport (MKS), Mekane Selam, Ethiopia and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,001 miles (or 14,486 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 Mekane Selam Airport and MCAS El Toro, 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 Mekane Selam Airport and MCAS El Toro. 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 Mekane Selam Airport (MKS):

• In addition to being known as "Mekane Selam Airport", another name for MKS is "Mekane Selam".
• The furthest airport from Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Mekane Selam Airport (meaning Mekane Selam Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,270 miles (19,747 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Combolcha Airport (DSE), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) ENE of MKS.

Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps' West Coast air stations.
• Before the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site.
• Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo, where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise.
• Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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 MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.