Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Kaitaia, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Kaitaia Airport (KAT), Kaitaia, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,513 miles (or 10,482 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 Kaitaia 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 Kaitaia 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):

• Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast.
• The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.

Facts about Kaitaia Airport (KAT):

• Kaitaia Airport receives Beechcraft 1900D's twice daily Mon-Fri and daily Sat-Sun.
• Kaitaia Airport is the most northern airfield in New Zealand that has fuel available.
• Because of Kaitaia Airport's relatively low elevation of 270 feet, planes can take off or land at Kaitaia 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 Kaitaia Airport (KAT) is Kerikeri Airport (KKE), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) ESE of KAT.
• Kaitaia Airport (KAT) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Kaitaia Airport (KAT) is Kenitra Air Base (NNA), which is nearly antipodal to Kaitaia Airport (meaning Kaitaia Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kenitra Air Base), and is located 12,383 miles (19,929 kilometers) away in Kenitra, Morocco.