Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Arxan, Inner Mongolia, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (YIE), Arxan, Inner Mongolia, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,018 miles (or 8,075 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 Arxan Yi'ershi 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 Arxan Yi'ershi 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):

• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• 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 Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (YIE):

• In addition to being known as "Arxan Yi'ershi Airport", other names for YIE include "阿尔山伊尔施机场", "Ā'ěrshān Yī'ěrshī Jīchǎng" and "ZBES".
• Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (YIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (YIE) is Puerto Deseado Airport (PUD), which is nearly antipodal to Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (meaning Arxan Yi'ershi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Puerto Deseado Airport), and is located 12,164 miles (19,576 kilometers) away in Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Arxan Yi'ershi Airport (YIE) is Ulanhot Airport (HLH), which is located 126 miles (202 kilometers) SE of YIE.