Nonstop flight route between Jakar, Bumthang, Bhutan and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from BUT to THU:
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- About this route
- BUT Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about BUT
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to BUT
- List of Nearest Airports to BUT
- Map of Furthest Airports from BUT
- List of Furthest Airports from BUT
- 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 Bathpalathang Airport (BUT), Jakar, Bumthang, Bhutan and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,191 miles (or 8,354 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 Bathpalathang 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 Bathpalathang 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: | BUT / VQBT |
Airport Name: | Bathpalathang Airport |
Location: | Jakar, Bumthang, Bhutan |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°33'46"N by 90°44'47"E |
Area Served: | Jakar, Bhutan |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 8858 feet (2,700 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BUT |
More Information: | BUT 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 Bathpalathang Airport (BUT):
- Because of Bathpalathang Airport's high elevation of 8,858 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BUT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BUT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Bathpalathang Airport (BUT) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Bathpalathang Airport (BUT) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,332 miles (18,237 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
- The closest airport to Bathpalathang Airport (BUT) is Paro International Airport (PBH), which is located 82 miles (132 kilometers) W of BUT.
- Airport construction at Bathpalathang met several delays, including soil instability under the runway, funding, labor and material shortages, and nearby river protection and diversion, each of which underpinned the ultimate success of any airport at the site.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".