Nonstop flight route between Wanaka, New Zealand and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WKA to THU:
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- About this route
- WKA Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about WKA
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to WKA
- List of Nearest Airports to WKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from WKA
- List of Furthest Airports from WKA
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wanaka Airport (WKA), Wanaka, New Zealand and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,711 miles (or 15,628 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 Wanaka Airport and Thule 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 Wanaka Airport and Thule Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WKA / NZWF |
Airport Name: | Wanaka Airport |
Location: | Wanaka, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°43'20"S by 169°14'44"E |
Operator/Owner: | Wanaka Town Board and Management Committee |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1142 feet (348 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from WKA |
More Information: | WKA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
View all routes: | Routes from THU |
More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Facts about Wanaka Airport (WKA):
- Scheduled services were operated by Air New Zealand's 19 seater Beechcraft 1900D to Christchurch, this finished on 30 January 2013.
- Non scheduled services are made by Vincent Aviation to Te Anau and Wellington, Aspiring Air to Queenstown 3 flights per day, and Glenorchy Air from Queenstown and Glenorchy.
- The closest airport to Wanaka Airport (WKA) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SW of WKA.
- Wanaka Airport (WKA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Wanaka Airport (WKA) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Wanaka Airport (meaning Wanaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
- Thule Air Base has served as the regional hub for nearby installations, including Cape Atholl, Camp Century, Camp TUTO, Sites 1 and 2, P-Mountain, J-Site, North and South Mountains, and a research rocket firing site.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- The furthest airport from Thule Air Base (THU) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 9,883 miles (15,905 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
- In 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
- There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
- In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.