Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Wilmington, Delaware, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG), Wilmington, Delaware, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,001 miles (or 6,439 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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):

• 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.
• 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG):

• The furthest airport from Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,724 miles (18,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• United Airlines served Wilmington until 1991.
• Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) has 3 runways.
• Because of Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 80 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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 airport opened before World War II, named the Wilmington Airport and the Greater Wilmington Airport.
• The closest airport to Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NE of ILG.
• Shuttle America offered scheduled flights out of Wilmington from the airline's founding in November 1998 until February 2000.
• Frontier flies three times a week to Atlanta, Chicago-Midway, Denver, Detroit, and Orlando, while flying once a week to Fort Myers and Tampa.
• On April 9, 2013 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Frontier Airlines would begin service July 1 from Wilmington to Chicago-Midway, Orlando, Tampa, Houston, and Denver.