Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Monterey, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), Monterey, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,973 miles (or 9,613 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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):

• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
• 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.
• 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 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 Monterey Regional Airport (MRY):

• The closest airport to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Salinas Municipal AirportSalinas Army Air Base (SNS), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of MRY.
• On August 23, 1984 at about 8:51 pm a Cessna 320C departed from Monterey under Special Visual Flight Rules with a 58-year-old pilot and four passengers.
• Because of Monterey Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Monterey 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.
• Allegiant Air is the only airline at Monterey using large "mainline" jets such as the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 which flies nonstop to Las Vegas.
• Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) has 2 runways.
• On September 8, 1987, at about 5:50 pm, a Beechcraft 95, being flown by a 31-year-old student pilot, was conducting multi-engine training at Monterey.
• The furthest airport from Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,400 miles (18,346 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.