Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Dammam, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and King Fahd International Airport (DMM), Dammam, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,757 miles (or 4,438 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 King Fahd 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 King Fahd 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):

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility.
• 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.
• 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".
• Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about King Fahd International Airport (DMM):

• King Fahd International Airport (DMM) has 2 runways.
• The airport is served by a multi-storey car park.
• Several sources, such as the Guinness World Record mention this airport as the largest in the world, with 780 square kilometers.
• The airport is classified as Code E by ICAO which makes it designed to accommodate large aircraft such as Boeing 747-400 and A340-600.
• King Fahd International Airport handled 7,000,000 passengers last year.
• The airport has two parallel runways with a length of 4,000 m each, in addition to taxiways parallel to the runways and a cross taxiway to connect the two runways.
• Several ATMs and currency exchange shops are available in the departure and arrival areas.
• Because of King Fahd International Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at King Fahd International 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 two-story air cargo building is constructed on an area of 39,500 m² and has a capacity of 94,000 metric tons of incoming and outgoing cargo.
• The furthest airport from King Fahd International Airport (DMM) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Fahd International Airport (meaning King Fahd International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,061 miles (19,411 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• The terminal is equipped with several customer counters of which 66 were allocated to Saudia, 44 to foreign airlines and the rest for Customs and Immigration.
• The closest airport to King Fahd International Airport (DMM) is King Abdulaziz Air Base (DHA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DMM.
• In addition to being known as "King Fahd International Airport", other names for DMM include "Dammam Airport" and "مطار الملك فهد الدولي".