Nonstop flight route between Rabaul, Papua New Guinea and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rabaul Airport (RAB), Rabaul, Papua New Guinea and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,378 miles (or 10,265 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 Rabaul Airport and MCAS El Toro, 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 Rabaul Airport and MCAS El Toro. 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 Rabaul Airport (RAB):

• Because of Rabaul Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Rabaul 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.
• A volcano eruption closed the airport for a day in 2006.
• Rabaul Airport (RAB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,780 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Rabaul Airport", another name for RAB is "Tokua Airport".
• The closest airport to Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Namatanai Airport (ATN), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of RAB.
• Rabaul Airport, also called Tokua Airport, is an airport serving Kokopo and Rabaul, the current and former capitals of East New Britain Province on New Britain island in Papua New Guinea.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 32 feet above mean sea level.

Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• 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 battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• The site is currently used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBC's Top Gear franchise.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.