Nonstop flight route between Atar, Mauritania and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from ATR to THU:
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- About this route
- ATR Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about ATR
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to ATR
- List of Nearest Airports to ATR
- Map of Furthest Airports from ATR
- List of Furthest Airports from ATR
- 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 Atar Airport (ATR), Atar, Mauritania and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,309 miles (or 6,935 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 Atar 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 Atar 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: | ATR / GQPA |
Airport Name: | Atar Airport |
Location: | Atar, Mauritania |
GPS Coordinates: | 20°30'24"N by 13°2'35"W |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 758 feet (231 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ATR |
More Information: | ATR 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 Atar Airport (ATR):
- The closest airport to Atar Airport (ATR) is Akjoujt Airport (AJJ), which is located 102 miles (164 kilometers) WSW of ATR.
- Because of Atar Airport's relatively low elevation of 758 feet, planes can take off or land at Atar Airport 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.
- Atar Airport (ATR) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Atar Airport (ATR) is Maré Airport (MEE), which is nearly antipodal to Atar Airport (meaning Atar Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maré Airport), and is located 12,340 miles (19,859 kilometers) away in Maré, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- Thule Air Base is the U.S.
- 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 the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
- A board of Air Force officers headed by Gordon P.
- In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
- 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.
- In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of 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.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.