Nonstop flight route between Elmira/Big Flats, New York, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM), Elmira/Big Flats, New York, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,967 miles (or 6,384 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 Elmira/Corning Regional 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 Elmira/Corning Regional 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 Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM):

• The furthest airport from Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,573 miles (18,625 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM) has 3 runways.
• Allegiant Air operates the only scheduled mainline airliners from the airport, Airbus A320, McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.
• Mohawk/Allegheny/USAir flew to Elmira until 2001 when its affiliate took over.
• The closest airport to Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM) is Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) NE of ELM.
• Because of Elmira/Corning Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 954 feet, planes can take off or land at Elmira/Corning 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.

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

• 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.
• Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
• With the end of the war, the Americans used Istres as a staging point between Occupied Germany and Morocco for air transport of personnel back to the United States.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
• 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.
• 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".
• Sometime after World War II, until May 1958 Base Aérienne 125 was host to the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and Commonwealth military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom.