Nonstop flight route between Hibbing, Minnesota, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Range Regional Airport (HIB), Hibbing, Minnesota, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,123 miles (or 3,417 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 relatively short distance between Range Regional Airport and Thule Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Range Regional Airport (HIB):

• Range Regional Airport (HIB) has 2 runways.
• On December 1, 1993, Northwest Airlink Flight 5719, crashed while on approach to Chisholm-Hibbing Airport.
• Range Regional Airport covers an area of 1,600 acres at an elevation of 1,354 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Range Regional Airport (HIB) is Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of HIB.
• The furthest airport from Range Regional Airport (HIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,717 miles (17,247 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• In the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• 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".
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• Thule Air Base has served as the regional hub for nearby installations, including Cape Atholl, Camp Century, Camp TUTO, Sites 1 and 2, P-Mountain, J-Site, North and South Mountains, and a research rocket firing site.
• 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.
• 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.
• The ratification of the treaty in 1951 did not change much, except that the Danish national flag Dannebrog must be side by side with Stars and Stripes on 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.