Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Bikaner, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Bikaner Air Force Base (BKB), Bikaner, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,861 miles (or 6,213 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 Bikaner Air Force 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Bikaner Air Force 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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".

Facts about Bikaner Air Force Base (BKB):

• The furthest airport from Bikaner Air Force Base (BKB) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Bikaner Air Force Base (meaning Bikaner Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,264 miles (19,737 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Bikaner Air Force Base", other names for BKB include "Nal Airport", "बीकानेर एयर फोर्स बेस" and "नाल हवाई अड्डे".
• It was also understood that JetAirways and Spicejet handed over their schedule to start the Flights from Bikaner to Delhi from October, 2013 onwards.
• The closest airport to Bikaner Air Force Base (BKB) is Jodhpur Airport (JDH), which is located 126 miles (203 kilometers) S of BKB.
• Bikaner Air Force Base (BKB) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Bikaner Air Force Base's relatively low elevation of 750 feet, planes can take off or land at Bikaner Air Force 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 government-owned Vayudoot operated a 20-seater aircraft to this airport in the past but the service was terminated in 1987.