Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,698 miles (or 4,343 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport. 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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.

Facts about Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ):

• Port Bouet Airport, also known as Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, is located 10 miles south east of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
• Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) is Arorae Island Airport (AIS), which is nearly antipodal to Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (meaning Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Arorae Island Airport), and is located 12,247 miles (19,710 kilometers) away in Arorae Island, Kiribati.
• In February 2012, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, president of Aeria's board of directors wants to make the airport suitable for support of Airbus A380.
• Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport handled 959,960 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) is Aboisso Airport (ABO), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) ENE of ABJ.
• In addition, there are provided an extension of the international terminal of a surface 11 000 to 26 000 m², the refurbishment of the aircraft parking area, renovation of access roads and the construction of a new parking lot.