Nonstop flight route between Burnie, Tasmania, Australia and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Burnie Airport (BWT), Burnie, Tasmania, Australia and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,779 miles (or 15,738 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 Burnie 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 Burnie 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 Burnie Airport (BWT):

• In addition to being known as "Burnie Airport", another name for BWT is "Wynyard Airport".
• Burnie Airport (BWT) has 2 runways.
• Burnie Airport handled 70,402 passengers last year.
• Burnie Airport was ranked 49th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.
• Burnie Airport, also called Burnie Wynyard Airport, is a regional airport located in Wynyard near the city of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia.
• The closest airport to Burnie Airport (BWT) is Smithton Airport (SIO), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WNW of BWT.
• The furthest airport from Burnie Airport (BWT) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to Burnie Airport (meaning Burnie Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,247 miles (19,709 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Burnie Airport's relatively low elevation of 62 feet, planes can take off or land at Burnie 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.
• The railway line has not been in operation since 2003.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• On 21 January 1968, a B-52G Stratofortress from the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on a secret airborne nuclear alert crashed and burned on the ice near Thule Air Base.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• 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 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• 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.