Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX), Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,386 miles (or 5,449 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 MCAS El Toro and Benjamín Rivera Noriega 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 MCAS El Toro and Benjamín Rivera Noriega 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 MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• The base headquarters was established on November 4, 1942 and the first landing occurred in late November when a Major Micheal Carmichael, flying from Camp Kearny, was forced to make an emergency landing among the construction equipment.
• The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.
• This faction lobbied strongly in favor of other uses for the property.
• 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 closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps' West Coast air stations.
• The land originally surrounding the base was mostly at agricultural use when it first opened, but it the late 1980s and early 1990s, residential development started to begin in the area.
• 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.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.

Facts about Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX):

• Because of Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Benjamín Rivera Noriega 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.
• Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport is a public use airport located on the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico.
• Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport handled 75,964 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (meaning Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,254 miles (19,722 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX) currently has only 1 runway.
• After the Navy-Culebra protests, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority started administering the civilian flight operations in Culebra, inaugurating the first passenger terminal in October 24, 1976.
• A new passenger terminal was inaugurated in 1994, and its name was changed to Benjamín Rivera Noriega, in honor of a pilot from Ciales.
• In addition to being known as "Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport", another name for CPX is "Aeropuerto Benjamín Rivera Noriega".
• The closest airport to Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX) is Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (VQS), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SW of CPX.