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):

• The closest airport to Hakodate Airport (HKD) is Aomori Airport (AOJ), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) S of HKD.
• In addition to being known as "Hakodate Airport", other names for HKD include "函館空港" and "Hakodate Kūkō".
• 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.
• On September 6, 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the West by landing a MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Hakodate Airport.
• 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 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.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".