Nonstop flight route between El Centro, California, United States and Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK), El Centro, California, United States and Kobe Airport (UKB), Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,894 miles (or 9,486 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro and Kobe 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 Naval Air Facility El Centro and Kobe 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 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 facility has two operating runways.
• NAF El Centro is the winter home of the U.S.
• Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK) has 2 runways.
• The facility was commissioned on May 1, 1946, as a Naval Air Station.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Facility El Centro", another name for NJK is "KNJK - FAA: NJK".
• 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.

Facts about Kobe Airport (UKB):

• Some international charter flights also use Kobe Airport.
• The airport finally opened on February 16, 2006, with Japan Airlines operating the first flight and All Nippon Airways operating the first scheduled flight.
• Because of Kobe Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobe 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 Kobe Airport (UKB) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of UKB.
• Kobe Airport (UKB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kobe Airport (UKB) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Kobe Airport is an airport on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe, 8 km south of Sannomiya StationJapan.
• In addition to being known as "Kobe Airport", other names for UKB include "神戸空港" and "Kōbe Kūkō".
• In 2013, Kobe mayor Tatsuo Yada endorsed a proposal to consolidate the management of the three Kansai region airports by adding Kobe Airport to the planned sale in 2014 of operating concessions at Itami and Kansai, although the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this to be unlikely given the advanced state of negotiations surrounding the concessions.