Nonstop flight route between Springfield, Illinois, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI), Springfield, Illinois, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,605 miles (or 7,411 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 Abraham Lincoln Capital 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 Abraham Lincoln Capital 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 Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI):

• The closest airport to Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI) is Decatur Airport (DEC), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) E of SPI.
• The airport is home to Capital Airport Air National Guard Station, a 91-acre facility on land leased from the Springfield Airport Authority.
• The airport has a Subway, a gift shop, an automated teller machine, TV and a lounge.
• Because of Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport's relatively low elevation of 598 feet, planes can take off or land at Abraham Lincoln Capital 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.
• Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI) has 3 runways.
• Allegiant Air is the only airline with mainline jets, McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.
• The furthest airport from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,013 miles (17,724 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• Mirage 2000 "escadron Limousin"
• 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.
• 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 (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.