Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Ramstein, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Ramstein Air Base (RMS), Ramstein, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,789 miles (or 9,316 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 Ramstein 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 MCAS El Toro and Ramstein 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 MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific.
• 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.
• Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.
• 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 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 battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• 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.
• The Department of the Navy hired the General Services Administration and Los Angeles-based Colliers International to assist in the sale of MCAS El Toro.

Facts about Ramstein Air Base (RMS):

• The furthest airport from Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Ramstein Air Base (meaning Ramstein Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,003 miles (19,316 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Besides the U.S. Air Force, the installation's population includes Belgian, British, Canadian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Polish personnel.
• From 2004 to 2006, Ramstein Air Base underwent an extensive expansion with a major construction project – including an all-new airport terminal, among other new facilities, through the so-called Rhein-Main Transition Program which was initiated in support of the total closure of Rhein-Main Air Base on 30 December 2005 and transferring all its former capacities to Ramstein Air Base and Spangdahlem Air Base.
• During the initial postwar era, the USAAF repaired several former Luftwaffe airfields in Bavaria which was part of the American occupation zone of Germany.
• The 86th Air Base Group was activated as the main base support unit for Landstuhl, while the 7030th HQ Support Group was the main base support unit for Ramstein.
• Allied Air Forces Central Europe was established at Ramstein on 28 June 1974.
• In 1940, construction of today's Bundesautobahn 6 was stopped when a bridge that was being built across the Rhine River near Mannheim collapsed, leaving a section of autobahn that could not be used.
• In addition to being known as "Ramstein Air Base", another name for RMS is "Ramstein AB".
• The closest airport to Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) ENE of RMS.