Nonstop flight route between Rhine, Germany and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from ZPQ to THU:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- ZPQ Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about ZPQ
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to ZPQ
- List of Nearest Airports to ZPQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from ZPQ
- List of Furthest Airports from ZPQ
- 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ), Rhine, Germany and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,523 miles (or 4,061 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base 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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base 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: | ZPQ / ETHE |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Rhine, Germany |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°17'31"N by 7°23'5"E |
Operator/Owner: | Federal Ministry of Defence |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 128 feet (39 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ZPQ |
More Information: | ZPQ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
|
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 Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ):
- The closest airport to Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Münster Osnabrück International Airport (FMO), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SE of ZPQ.
- In addition to being known as "Rheine-Bentlage Air Base", another name for ZPQ is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-108)".
- The furthest airport from Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,825 miles (19,030 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- In 1974, the CH-53 replaced the by now obsolete Sikorsky H-34 and has been in service ever since.
- Since unification of Germany in 1990, units from Rheine were deployed in as various part as the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan under the auspices of either NATO, the UN or the EU.
- Because of Rheine-Bentlage Air Base's relatively low elevation of 128 feet, planes can take off or land at Rheine-Bentlage 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.
- Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) currently has only 1 runway.
- Since then helicopters from Rheine saw action in as different places as Italy, Greece and the Pyrenees mainly by offering help and logistic support after natural disasters.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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 is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
- 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.
- Originally established as a Strategic Air Command installation, Thule would periodically serve as a dispersal base for B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojet aircraft during the 1950s, as well as providing an ideal site to test the operability and maintainability of these weapon systems in extreme cold weather.
- 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.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
- In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".