Nonstop flight route between Orlando, Florida, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Orlando International Airport (MCO), Orlando, Florida, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,720 miles (or 7,596 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 Orlando 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 Orlando 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 Orlando International Airport (MCO):

• Orlando International Airport handled 34,877,899 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Orlando International Airport (MCO) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,506 miles (18,517 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Orlando International Airport (MCO) is Orlando Executive Airport (ORL), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) N of MCO.
• Eastern Air Lines used Orlando as a hub during the 1970s and early 1980s, and became "the official airline of Walt Disney World." Following Eastern's demise, Delta Air Lines assumed this role, although it later pulled much of its large aircraft operations from Orlando, and focused its service there on regional jet flights, specifically with Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Comair and Chautauqua Airlines – all part of the Delta Connection system.
• The Orlando International Airport has a hub-and-spoke layout with a large main terminal building and four airside concourses accessible via elevated tram systems or people movers.
• Orlando International Airport (MCO) has 4 runways.
• Commercial airline service to the new Orlando Jetport at McCoy began in late 1961 or early 1962, per the city and USAF agreement.
• Early jetliners such as the Boeing 707, Boeing 720, Douglas DC-8 and Convair 880 required longer and sturdier runways than the ones at Orlando Municipal Airport.
• In the early 1960s, when jet airline flights came to Orlando, the installation became a joint civil-military facility.
• Because of Orlando International Airport's relatively low elevation of 96 feet, planes can take off or land at Orlando 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 airport code MCO stands for the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command installation.

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".
• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• Base aérienne 125 Istres Advanced Landing Ground 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.