Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,067 miles (or 6,546 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 Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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 Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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):

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

Facts about Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI):

• Currently improvements are being made to widen concourse C.
• Planning for a new airport on 3,200 acres to serve the Baltimore/Washington area began just after the end of World War II.
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) has 4 runways.
• Because of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's relatively low elevation of 146 feet, planes can take off or land at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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.
• In 2010, BWI was ranked as the best airport of its size in the world by the Airports Council International based on its 2009 Airport Service Quality survey.
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport handled 22,391,785 passengers last year.
• To accommodate Southwest's extensive presence at the airport, in 2005 Concourses A and B were expanded, renovated, and integrated with one another to house all of that airline's operations there.
• The furthest airport from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,691 miles (18,814 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is Tipton Airport (FME), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SW of BWI.