Nonstop flight route between Garoua, Cameroon and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Garoua International Airport (GOU), Garoua, Cameroon and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,464 miles (or 8,793 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 Garoua International 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 Garoua International 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 Garoua International Airport (GOU):

• Because of Garoua International Airport's relatively low elevation of 794 feet, planes can take off or land at Garoua International 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.
• Garoua International Airport (GOU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Garoua International Airport (GOU) is Yola Airport (YOL), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) W of GOU.
• The furthest airport from Garoua International Airport (GOU) is Fitiuta Airport (FTI), which is nearly antipodal to Garoua International Airport (meaning Garoua International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fitiuta Airport), and is located 12,050 miles (19,393 kilometers) away in Fiti‘uta, American Samoa, United States.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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 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.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.