Nonstop flight route between Kigali, Rwanda and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kigali International Airport (KGL), Kigali, Rwanda and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,510 miles (or 5,648 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 Kigali 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 Kigali 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 Kigali International Airport (KGL):

• Kigali International Airport (KGL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Rwandair has its head office on the top floor of the airport's main building.
• Check in Desk in 2012
• The airport is located in the suburb of Kanombe, at the eastern edge of Kigali, approximately 14 kilometres, by road, east of the central business district of the city of Kigali.
• The closest airport to Kigali International Airport (KGL) is Kirundo Airport (KRE), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) S of KGL.
• The furthest airport from Kigali International Airport (KGL) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,920 miles (19,183 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Because of Kigali International Airport's high elevation of 4,891 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KGL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KGL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• This the former passenger terminal

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (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".
• 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.
• Base aérienne 125 Istres Advanced Landing Ground Y-17
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• 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.