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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ramstein Air Base (RMS), Ramstein, Germany and John Wayne Airport (SNA), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,793 miles (or 9,323 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 Ramstein Air Base and John Wayne 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 Ramstein Air Base and John Wayne 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 Ramstein Air Base (RMS):

• 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".
• Enough construction was completed in mid-1952, that Landstuhl AB was opened on 5 August.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 31 January 1973, several headquarters were relocated into and out of Ramstein, when Seventeenth AF moved to Sembach Air Base to make room for the expected move of HQ USAFE to Ramstein.
• The new 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing stood up on 4 September 2008.

Facts about John Wayne Airport (SNA):

• Because of John Wayne Airport's relatively low elevation of 56 feet, planes can take off or land at John Wayne 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 John Wayne Airport (SNA) is MCAS El Toro (NZJ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) E of SNA.
• The original single runway was 4,800 feet long, oriented on a magnetic heading of 210 degrees and 30 degrees.
• John Wayne Airport (SNA) has 2 runways.
• Martin and James Irvine made a deal for a five-year lease on 80 acres for $35 a month and founded a flying school on land owned by the Irvine Company.
• In 2011, additional terminal space was added and existing terminals were refreshed as part of a $543 million expansion project.
• The airport has previously been served by Aloha Airlines, Virgin America and Air Canada.
• Nonstop flights reached Salt Lake City in 1976–77, Denver in 1982, Dallas-Fort Worth in 1983, Chicago in 1986, and New York Kennedy in 1991.
• The furthest airport from John Wayne Airport (SNA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,490 miles (18,491 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.