Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Cienfuegos, Cuba:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Jaime González Airport (CFG), Cienfuegos, Cuba would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,953 miles (or 7,971 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 Jaime González 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 Jaime González 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):

• 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".
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Jaime González Airport (CFG):

• Jaime González Airport is an international airport that serves Cienfuegos, a city on the southern coast of Cuba, and capital of the province of Cienfuegos.
• Because of Jaime González Airport's relatively low elevation of 102 feet, planes can take off or land at Jaime González 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 closest airport to Jaime González Airport (CFG) is Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) NE of CFG.
• In addition to being known as "Jaime González Airport", another name for CFG is "Aeropuerto "Jaime González"".
• The airport is at an elevation of 31 m above mean sea level.
• During the war the base was set up to use a non-descript number for postal operations.
• The furthest airport from Jaime González Airport (CFG) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,725 miles (18,869 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Jaime González Airport (CFG) currently has only 1 runway.