Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,096 miles (or 6,592 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National 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):

• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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".
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA):

• The furthest airport from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Ronald Reagan Washington National 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.
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) has 3 runways.
• Other than 40 slot exemptions, flights into and out of DCA are not allowed to exceed 1,250 statute miles in any direction nonstop, in an effort to send air traffic to the larger but more distant Washington Dulles International Airport.
• Reagan National Airport is subject to a federally mandated perimeter limitation and may not accommodate nonstop flights to or from cities beyond 1,250-statute-mile, with limited exceptions.
• Although the need for a better airport was acknowledged in 37 studies conducted between 1926 and 1938, there was a statutory prohibition against federal development of airports.
• With the addition of more flights and limited space in the aging main terminal, the airport began an extensive renovation and expansion in the 1990s.
• In 1984 Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole appointed a commission to study transferring National and Dulles Airports from the Federal Aviation Administration to a local entity, which could use airport revenues to finance improvements.
• The closest airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), which is located only 1 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of DCA.
• In May 2012, the U.S.
• Given Reagan National Airport's proximity to the city and high-security facilities, Reagan National has extra security precautions required by the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone that have been in place since the airport began operations.