Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Qianjiang, Chongqing, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport (JIQ), Qianjiang, Chongqing, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,470 miles (or 8,804 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 Qianjiang Wulingshan 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 Qianjiang Wulingshan 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):

• Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• 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.
• Base aérienne 125 Istres Advanced Landing Ground Y-17
• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
• 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 Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport (JIQ):

• The closest airport to Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport (JIQ) is Enshi Xujiaping Airport (ENH), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) NE of JIQ.
• In addition to being known as "Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport", other names for JIQ include "黔江武陵山机场", "Qiánjiāng Wǔlíngshān Jīchǎng" and "ZUQJ".
• The furthest airport from Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport (JIQ) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is nearly antipodal to Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport (meaning Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Florida Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,971 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.