Nonstop flight route between Grootfontein, Namibia and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grootfontein Airport (GFY), Grootfontein, Namibia and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,483 miles (or 12,043 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 Grootfontein 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 Grootfontein 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 Grootfontein Airport (GFY):

• Grootfontein Airport (GFY) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Grootfontein Airport", another name for GFY is "Grootfontein Airport".
• The furthest airport from Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Grootfontein Airport (meaning Grootfontein Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,222 miles (19,669 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Grootfontein Airport's high elevation of 4,636 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GFY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GFY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is Halali Airport (HAL), which is located 115 miles (186 kilometers) WNW of GFY.

Facts about Thule Air Base (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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• 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.