Nonstop flight route between Ataq, Yemen and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ataq Airport (AXK), Ataq, Yemen and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,634 miles (or 9,066 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 Ataq 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 Ataq 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ataq Airport (AXK):

• The closest airport to Ataq Airport (AXK) is Beihan Airport (BHN), which is located 76 miles (122 kilometers) WNW of AXK.
• The furthest airport from Ataq Airport (AXK) is Pukarua Airport (PUK), which is nearly antipodal to Ataq Airport (meaning Ataq Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pukarua Airport), and is located 12,074 miles (19,431 kilometers) away in Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• Ataq Airport (AXK) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• A delegation from NATO's Parliamentary Assembly visited Thule in early September 2010 and were told by the base commander that, at that time, approximately 600 personnel were serving at Thule, a mix of mostly U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport, is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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.