Nonstop flight route between Tucson, Arizona, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,830 miles (or 9,382 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 Tucson 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 Tucson 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 Tucson International Airport (TUS):

• The closest airport to Tucson International Airport (TUS) is Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NE of TUS.
• Tucson International Airport handled 1,779,679 passengers last year.
• Tucson International Airport (TUS) has 3 runways.
• During its history at TUS, the 162nd has operated the F-86 Sabre, F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, A-7 Corsair II and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.
• Tucson International Airport hosts Tucson Air National Guard Base, a 92-acre complex on the northwest corner of the airport that is home to the 162d Fighter Wing, an Air Education and Training Command -gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard.
• The furthest airport from Tucson International Airport (TUS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,513 miles (18,528 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• There has been a propensity in local Tucson / Pima County area news media outlets and other business and governmental entities in the Tucson metropolitan area outside of the professional aviation community to refer to the airport as "TIA" versus the airport's actual airport code of "TUS" in either reporting or reference.

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

• 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".
• 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.
• 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 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.