Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Gibraltar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), Gibraltar would travel a Great Circle distance of 746 miles (or 1,200 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 relatively short distance between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Gibraltar International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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

Facts about Gibraltar International Airport (GIB):

• Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Gibraltar International Airport (meaning Gibraltar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• On 10 January 2012, Gibraltar was selected as one of the 'World's Scariest Airport Landings and Take-offs' in the travel section of the Daily Telegraph due to its runway which extends into the sea.
• Because of Gibraltar International Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Gibraltar 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 closest airport to Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Ceuta Heliport (JCU), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) S of GIB.
• In addition to being known as "Gibraltar International Airport", another name for GIB is "(North Front Airport)".
• On 17 November 2006 Iberia announced that it would start flights from Madrid to Gibraltar using an Airbus A319 aircraft.
• The road across the runway is constraining operations at the airport, especially with the increase in operations since the Córdoba Agreement.
• On 3 November 2003, Monarch announced a new route from Gibraltar to Manchester Airport.
• Gibraltar International Airport handled 383,013 passengers last year.