Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Ohio, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Columbus International Airport (CMH), Columbus, Ohio, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,310 miles (or 6,936 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 Port Columbus 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 Port Columbus 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 Port Columbus International Airport (CMH):

• The airport opened July 8, 1929 on a site selected by Charles Lindbergh, as the eastern air terminus of the Transcontinental Air Transport air-rail New York to Los Angeles transcontinental route.
• In 2013, the airport completed a US$140 million runway improvement.
• Because of Port Columbus International Airport's relatively low elevation of 815 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Columbus 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.
• The closest airport to Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) is Ohio State University Airport (OSU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WNW of CMH.
• Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) has 2 runways.
• The first major airline to fly into Port Columbus was TWA, and it kept a presence at Columbus over seventy years during the era of airline regulation.
• The furthest airport from Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,361 miles (18,284 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

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

• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
• 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.
• 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".