Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Harbin, Heilongjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB), Harbin, Heilongjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,305 miles (or 8,537 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 Harbin Taiping 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 Harbin Taiping 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):

• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility.

Facts about Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB):

• In addition to being known as "Harbin Taiping International Airport", other names for HRB include "哈尔滨太平国际机场" and "Hā'ěrbīn Tàipíng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Because of Harbin Taiping International Airport's relatively low elevation of 456 feet, planes can take off or land at Harbin Taiping 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.
• Harbin Taiping International Airport handled 7,259,498 passengers last year.
• Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 11,980 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom.
• The closest airport to Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB) is Daqing Sartu Airport (DQA), which is located 83 miles (133 kilometers) NW of HRB.
• It is capable of handling 6 million passengers annually and has more than 50 air routes, both domestic and international.