Nonstop flight route between Montbéliard, France and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (XMF), Montbéliard, France and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,862 miles (or 9,433 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 Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome 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 Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome 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 Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (XMF):

• The closest airport to Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (XMF) is EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) ENE of XMF.
• Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (XMF) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (XMF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome (meaning Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,138 miles (19,535 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Montbéliard - Courcelles Aerodrome", another name for XMF is "Aérodrome de Montbéliard - Courcelles".

Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• 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 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 land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• The site is currently used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBC's Top Gear franchise.
• Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.
• The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• 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.
• Over the years, the VOCs had seeped into the groundwater, resulting in a plume of contaminated groundwater extending for three miles to the west of the station.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of 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 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.