Nonstop flight route between El Centro, California, United States and Doha, Qatar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK), El Centro, California, United States and Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD), Doha, Qatar would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,342 miles (or 13,426 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro and Al-Udeid Air Base, 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro and Al-Udeid Air Base. 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK):

• Apart from "touch and go" landings and take-offs, aircrews use the many ranges at NAF El Centro to develop their skills.
• The addition of the Display and Debriefing Subsystem, known as DDS, expanded the role of NAF El Centro to include air combat training by utilizing remote television, acoustical and laser scoring systems.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,532 miles (18,558 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Much of the movie "Jarhead" was filmed around El Centro and many of the extras from the movie were from NAF El Centro.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Facility El Centro", another name for NJK is "KNJK - FAA: NJK".
• Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) is Imperial County Airport (IPL), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) E of NJK.
• The facility was commissioned on May 1, 1946, as a Naval Air Station.

Facts about Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD):

• Following Australia's formal withdraw of forces from Iraq and to upon Afghanistan in 2008, the air bridge for operations in the Middle East was re-located to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
• The furthest airport from Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to Al-Udeid Air Base (meaning Al-Udeid Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,021 miles (19,346 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Al-Udeid Air Base", other names for IUD include "قاعدة العديد الجوية" and "XJD".
• The Administration’s FY2011 military construction request for Qatar was $64.3 million, for Air Force facilities and a National Security Agency warehouse.
• The closest airport to Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD) is Hamad International Airport (DOH), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ENE of IUD.
• Because of Al-Udeid Air Base's relatively low elevation of 130 feet, planes can take off or land at Al-Udeid Air Base 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 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 authorized $81.7 million in FY2008 spending to build new Air Force and Special Operations facilities in Qatar.
• Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD) currently has only 1 runway.