Nonstop flight route between Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Stanley Airport (PSY), Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,568 miles (or 12,179 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 Stanley 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 Stanley 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 Stanley Airport (PSY):

• The furthest airport from Port Stanley Airport (PSY) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to Port Stanley Airport (meaning Port Stanley Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,877 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
• Port Stanley Airport is a STOLport in the Falkland Islands, two miles outside the capital, Stanley.
• After the war, the Royal Air Force took over the airport, renaming it RAF Stanley.
• During the war the Argentines also heavily mined Yorke Bay to the north of the airport and Surf/Rookery Bays to the southeast with minimum metal mines under the presumption the British would attempt an amphibious landing on the east coast of East Falkland to quickly recapture both the airfield and Stanley in one fell swoop.
• Port Stanley Airport (PSY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Port Stanley Airport (PSY) is RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) WSW of PSY.
• In 1973, the United Kingdom signed a Communications Agreement with Argentina to fund an airstrip on the islands.
• Because of Port Stanley Airport's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Stanley 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 Falkland Islands Government Air Service operates internal flights within the Falkland Islands from the airport.

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

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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"