Nonstop flight route between Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA), Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,498 miles (or 12,066 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 Zhanjiang 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 Zhanjiang 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 Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA):

• In addition to being known as "Zhanjiang Airport", other names for ZHA include "湛江机场" and "Zhànjiāng Jīchǎng".
• Zhanjiang Airport handled 488,835 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) is Beihai Fucheng Airport (BHY), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) WNW of ZHA.
• Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Zhanjiang Airport's relatively low elevation of 125 feet, planes can take off or land at Zhanjiang 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 furthest airport from Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) is Diego Aracena International Airport (IQQ), which is nearly antipodal to Zhanjiang Airport (meaning Zhanjiang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Diego Aracena International Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,921 kilometers) away in Iquique, Chile.

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 land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• 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.
• 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.
• Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.
• 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.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.