Nonstop flight route between Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Merced, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tureira Airport (ZTA), Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Merced Regional Airport (MCE), Merced, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,180 miles (or 6,727 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 Tureira Airport and Merced Regional 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 Tureira Airport and Merced Regional 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 Tureira Airport (ZTA):

• Tureia is an atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia.
• The furthest airport from Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), which is nearly antipodal to Tureira Airport (meaning Tureira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Al-Baha Domestic Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
• Because of Tureira Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Tureira 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.
• From 1966 to 1999, Tureia hosted an outpost of the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique, the French authority supervising nuclear tests on the nearby atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, which lie about 70 miles/115 kilometres south of Tureia.
• The closest airport to Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 104 miles (167 kilometers) N of ZTA.
• Tureia atoll is 15 km long and has a maximum width of 8 km.

Facts about Merced Regional Airport (MCE):

• In 1943 New Merced Municipal Airport was leased to the U.S.
• Merced Regional Airport (MCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,314 miles (18,209 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Castle Airport (MER), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NNW of MCE.
• Merced Regional Airport covers 766 acres at an elevation of 155 feet above mean sea level.
• The airport was formerly served by Air Pacific, American Eagle, Golden Gate Airlines, United Airlines, United Express and US Airways Express.
• In 1946 United Airlines built offices and a terminal building and began one Douglas DC-3 flight each way a day.
• In addition to being known as "Merced Regional Airport", another name for MCE is "MacReady Field".
• Because of Merced Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 155 feet, planes can take off or land at Merced Regional 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.