Nonstop flight route between Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Snake Bay Airport (SNB), Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,530 miles (or 13,727 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 Snake Bay 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 Snake Bay 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 Snake Bay Airport (SNB):

• Because of Snake Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Snake Bay 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.
• Snake Bay Airport is located at Milikapiti, Northern Territory on the northern coast of Melville Island, Australia.
• The furthest airport from Snake Bay Airport (SNB) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,936 miles (19,209 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
• Snake Bay Airport (SNB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Snake Bay Airport (SNB) is Garden Point Airport (GPN), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) W of SNB.

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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.