Nonstop flight route between Manhattan, Kansas, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), Manhattan, Kansas, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,923 miles (or 7,922 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 Manhattan 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 Manhattan 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 Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK):

• For several years in the mid-1980s Air Midwest was an Eastern Air Lines affiliate and flew 30-passenger Saab 340As in Eastern paint to Kansas City.
• Traffic at the airport has multiplied in recent years.
• Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) is Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SW of MHK.
• An older 4,100-square-foot terminal building built in 1958 is now home to General Aviation Training & Testing Service.
• An 11,700-square-foot passenger terminal building, located at 5500 Fort Riley Boulevard, houses American Eagle Airlines, Hertz Rent-a-Car, Enterprise Car Rental, and other services.
• The first scheduled commercial airline service into Manhattan was Continental Airlines, which began DC-3 flights to Wichita in April 1953.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2013–2017 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.
• Heartland Aviation uses an 8,000-square-foot stone maintenance hangar, constructed in 1940, next to the General Aviation terminal building for servicing and repairing aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,646 miles (17,133 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (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.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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.
• On 31 March 1992, a Boeing 707 of Kabo Air, a Nigerian company, made an emergency landing at Istres after engines 3 and 4 had separated from the wing in turbulence at 35,000 feet.