Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Sepang (near Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), Sepang (near Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,425 miles (or 10,341 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 Kuala Lumpur 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 Kuala Lumpur 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):

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

Facts about Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL):

• Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) has 3 runways.
• Because of Kuala Lumpur International Airport's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuala Lumpur 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 gates in Satellite Terminal A have the prefix C.The Satellite A terminal has 27 boarding gates altogether.
• In addition to being known as "Kuala Lumpur International Airport", another name for KUL is "Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur".
• The contact pier is the rectangular-shaped terminal that is connected to the KLIA Main Terminal Building.
• The furthest airport from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) is Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport (XMS), which is nearly antipodal to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (meaning Kuala Lumpur International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Macas, Ecuador.
• The initial passenger growth was below average due to Asian Financial Crisis and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003 and the airport failed to reach its target capacity of 25 million passengers per annum by 2004.
• The airport suffered greatly reduced traffic with the general reduction in economic activity brought about by the East Asian financial crisis, SARS, bird flu epidemic, the global financial crisis and the swine flu pandemic.
• ^Note 2 Malaysia Airlines regional/international flights using narrow body aircraft depart from Main Terminal Gates G/H which is actually the upper floor of Gates A/B after immigration.
• The closest airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) is  KA01  KJ15  MR1  Kuala Lumpur Sentral (KL Sentral) 吉隆坡中环广场 (XKL), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) N of KUL.