Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Jerez de la Frontera, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Jerez Airport (XRY), Jerez de la Frontera, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,880 miles (or 9,462 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 Jerez 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 Jerez 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 the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site.
• 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 1993, MCAS El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
• 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 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 closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.
• 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.
• Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.
• Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast.
• This faction lobbied strongly in favor of other uses for the property.
• 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.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific.

Facts about Jerez Airport (XRY):

• In addition to being known as "Jerez Airport", another name for XRY is "Aeropuerto de Jerez".
• Jerez Airport is conveniently located for access to Gibraltar, Cadiz, Tarifa, Seville and the Costa del Sol which is a 90-minute drive away.
• The furthest airport from Jerez Airport (XRY) is Auckland Airport (AKL), which is nearly antipodal to Jerez Airport (meaning Jerez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Auckland Airport), and is located 12,386 miles (19,934 kilometers) away in Mangere, New Zealand.
• Jerez Airport (XRY) currently has only 1 runway.
• There are regular buses to and from the airport to Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Cádiz.
• Because of Jerez Airport's relatively low elevation of 93 feet, planes can take off or land at Jerez 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.
• Ryanair introduced regular flights between Jerez Airport and London which helped increase passenger numbers at the airport to 1.1 million in 2004.
• The closest airport to Jerez Airport (XRY) is Seville Airport (SVQ), which is located 47 miles (76 kilometers) N of XRY.