Nonstop flight route between St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from ADX to THU:
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- About this route
- ADX Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about ADX
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to ADX
- List of Nearest Airports to ADX
- Map of Furthest Airports from ADX
- List of Furthest Airports from ADX
- 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 RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,100 miles (or 3,380 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 relatively short distance between RAF Leuchars and Thule Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | ADX / EGQL |
| Airport Name: | RAF Leuchars |
| Location: | St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 56°22'23"N by 2°52'6"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from ADX |
| More Information: | ADX 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 RAF Leuchars (ADX):
- The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.
- The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
- As the Cold War reached its frostiest depths in the 1960s the development of long range aircraft allowed the Soviets regular incursion into British air space.
- During Second World War, British Overseas Airways Corporation formed in November 1939 from Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd operated a wartime route from RAF Leuchars to Stockholm.
- Very little information of a closure timeline is known.
- As the Navy embraced the value of aviation, the aircraft carrier was added to its inventory.
- Leuchars was home to the last squadron of Panavia Tornado F3s, No.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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 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.
