Nonstop flight route between Elcho Island, Northern Territory, Australia and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from ELC to THU:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- ELC Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about ELC
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to ELC
- List of Nearest Airports to ELC
- Map of Furthest Airports from ELC
- List of Furthest Airports from ELC
- 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 Elcho Island Airport (ELC), Elcho Island, Northern Territory, Australia and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,892 miles (or 12,700 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 Elcho Island 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 Elcho Island 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: | ELC / YELD |
Airport Name: | Elcho Island Airport |
Location: | Elcho Island, Northern Territory, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 12°1'11"S by 135°34'11"E |
Operator/Owner: | Marthakal Yolngu Airline |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 101 feet (31 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ELC |
More Information: | ELC 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 Elcho Island Airport (ELC):
- Elcho Island Airport (ELC) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Elcho Island Airport (ELC) is Lake Evella Airport (LEL), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) SSE of ELC.
- Because of Elcho Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 101 feet, planes can take off or land at Elcho Island 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 furthest airport from Elcho Island Airport (ELC) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,701 miles (18,831 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
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.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
- 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.
- In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.