Nonstop flight route between Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mount Hagen Airport (HGU), Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,396 miles (or 11,902 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 Mount Hagen 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 Mount Hagen 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 Mount Hagen Airport (HGU):

• The closest airport to Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) is Chimbu Airport (CMU), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) ESE of HGU.
• Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) is Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR), which is located 11,745 miles (18,902 kilometers) away in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
• Because of Mount Hagen Airport's high elevation of 5,388 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HGU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HGU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.