Nonstop flight route between Grand Junction, Colorado, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT), Grand Junction, Colorado, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,379 miles (or 8,656 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 Grand Junction Regional 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 Grand Junction Regional 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 Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT):

• The furthest airport from Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,014 miles (17,726 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) is Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) ENE of GJT.
• The airport covers 2,357 acres at an elevation of 4,858 feet.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Junction Regional Airport", another name for GJT is "Walker Field".
• The first airliners at Grand Junction were Monarch Douglas DC-3s in 1946-47.
• The first jets at Grand Junction were Frontier Boeing 727-100s flying DEN-GJT-SLC and back starting Oct-Nov 1966.
• Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) has 2 runways.
• Because of Grand Junction Regional Airport's high elevation of 4,858 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GJT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GJT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Built prior to World War II, Istres Air Base was first used by the Armée de l'air during the early part of the war, and after the 1940 Battle of France and the June Armistice with Nazi Germany, became part of the limited air force of the Vichy Government.
• 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.
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.