Nonstop flight route between Windsor Locks (near Hartford), Connecticut, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bradley International Airport (BDL), Windsor Locks (near Hartford), Connecticut, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,789 miles (or 6,098 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 Bradley International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, 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 Bradley International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base. 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 Bradley International Airport (BDL):

• In 1979, a tornado ripped through Windsor Locks, wreaking destruction along the eastern portions of the airport.
• The furthest airport from Bradley International Airport (BDL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,740 miles (18,894 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1948 the federal government deeded the Airport to the State of Connecticut for public and commercial use.
• Bradley International Airport (BDL) has 3 runways.
• In 1952 the Murphy Terminal was opened.
• Because of Bradley International Airport's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Bradley International 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.
• On October 7, 2008, Embraer, an aerospace company based in Brazil, selected Bradley as its service center for the Northeastern United States.
• The closest airport to Bradley International Airport (BDL) is Rentschler Heliport (EHT), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of BDL.
• In 1976 an experimental monorail was completed to link the terminal to a parking lot seven-tenths of a mile away.

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• The main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated C-47 Skytrain transports from the airfield from September to November 1944.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (meaning Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,364 miles (19,898 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of QIE.
• In addition to being known as "Istres-Le Tubé Air Base", another name for QIE is "Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17".
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
• Because of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base's relatively low elevation of 162 feet, planes can take off or land at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base 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.
• Built prior to World War II, Istres Air Base was first used by the Armée de l'air during the early part of the war, and after the 1940 Battle of France and the June Armistice with Nazi Germany, became part of the limited air force of the Vichy Government.