Nonstop flight route between Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hakodate Airport (HKD), Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,161 miles (or 6,696 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 Hakodate 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 Hakodate 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 Hakodate Airport (HKD):

• On September 6, 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the West by landing a MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Hakodate Airport.
• The closest airport to Hakodate Airport (HKD) is Aomori Airport (AOJ), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) S of HKD.
• Scheduled buses operate to Hakodate Station and the Onuma Prince Hotel.
• Hakodate Airport (HKD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Hakodate Airport (HKD) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,458 miles (18,440 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Hakodate Airport", other names for HKD include "函館空港" and "Hakodate Kūkō".
• Because of Hakodate Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Hakodate 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.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In 1961, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar was constructed at "J-Site," 21 km northeast of main base.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.