Nonstop flight route between Louisville, Kentucky, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Louisville International Airport (SDF), Louisville, Kentucky, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,507 miles (or 7,254 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 Louisville International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, 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 Louisville International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base. 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 Louisville International Airport (SDF):

• Louisville International Airport handled 3,349,162 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Louisville International Airport", another name for SDF is "Standiford Field".
• Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS located at the Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky.
• Standiford Field was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 on a parcel of land south of Louisville that was found not to have flooded during the Ohio River flood of 1937.
• The furthest airport from Louisville International Airport (SDF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,239 miles (18,088 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Louisville International Airport's relatively low elevation of 501 feet, planes can take off or land at Louisville 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 airport is home to Worldport, the worldwide hub of UPS.
• The closest airport to Louisville International Airport (SDF) is Bowman Field (LOU), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) NE of SDF.
• Louisville International Airport (SDF) has 3 runways.
• The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 45 weekday departures on Eastern Airlines, 19 American, 9 TWA, 4 Piedmont and 2 Ozark.

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (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.
• Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"