Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Shenzhen, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,026 miles (or 9,697 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 Shenzhen Bao'an 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 Shenzhen Bao'an 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):

• 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.
• 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".
• 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 main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated C-47 Skytrain transports from the airfield from September to November 1944.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX):

• Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport handled 32,268,400 passengers last year.
• A second runway running parallel to the west of the current runway started construction in 2008.
• Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) has 2 runways.
• There are shuttle services connecting the new terminal with Shenzhen Metro Luobao Line.
• The fourth floor has eight check-in areas, labeled A to H, with a total of 192 check-in counters.
• The baggage areas of Terminal C are short walks away from the General Traffic Center, where passengers can take buses, taxis and, eventually, Metro trains.
• The main building's third floor is the waiting area for domestic and international flights, which depart from the east wing.
• In addition to being known as "Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport", other names for SZX include "深圳宝安国际机场" and "Shēnzhèn Bǎo'ān Guójì Jīchǎng".
• International departing passengers descend to a Customs and Immigration Hall on the third floor just beyond the central check-in counters.
• Passengers departing from Shenzhen will access check-in service and security checks on the terminal’s fourth floor, and arriving passengers can connect to public transportation at the traffic center on the first and second floors.
• The furthest airport from Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) is Bermejo Airport (BJO), which is nearly antipodal to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (meaning Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bermejo Airport), and is located 12,317 miles (19,822 kilometers) away in Bermejo, Bolivia.
• Because of Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Shenzhen Bao'an 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 closest airport to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) is Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) SSE of SZX.