# Istres-Le Tubé Air Base

> Istres, Bouches-du-Rhône, FR · ICAO: LFMI · Medium Airport

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| ICAO | `LFMI` |
| City | Istres, Bouches-du-Rhône |
| Country | FR |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 25 m |
| Cargo | ❌ |
| GPS | 43.52270, 4.92384 |

## Description

The DGA flight-test centre (DGA Essais en vol) and the EPNER test-pilot school make Istres-Le Tubé (Base Aérienne 125, ICAO: LFMI) France's principal proving ground for military aircraft, with Dassault, Thales and Safran among the industrial users. The base, some 50 km north-west of Marseille, also holds the entire French strategic tanker-transport fleet: squadron ERVTS 1/31 "Bretagne" flies the A330 MRTT Phénix, supported technically by 15/31 "Camargue", and took delivery of the twelfth and final aircraft of the initial batch on 20 September 2026. Commercial freight has no place here: no cargo terminal, no handling agents, no customs clearance and no civil scheduled flights, since air transport at Istres is a purely military function. Exporters in Provence use Marseille Provence (IATA: MRS), roughly 50 km to the south-east, the nearest airport with regular cargo handling and about an hour away by truck. Lyon Saint-Exupéry (IATA: LYS) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (IATA: CDG) add freighter services and intercontinental belly capacity. For shippers in the Étang de Berre industrial belt, the practical question is therefore which of those three to book, not whether Istres could handle the consignment.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/istres-le-tube-air-base-airport-lfmi](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/istres-le-tube-air-base-airport-lfmi)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/istres-le-tube-air-base-airport-lfmi](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/istres-le-tube-air-base-airport-lfmi)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/istres-le-tube-air-base-airport-lfmi/llm-summary*