Nonstop flight route between Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from HKY to THU:
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- About this route
- HKY Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about HKY
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to HKY
- List of Nearest Airports to HKY
- Map of Furthest Airports from HKY
- List of Furthest Airports from HKY
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,846 miles (or 4,580 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 Hickory Regional 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 Hickory Regional 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:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | HKY / KHKY |
| Airport Name: | Hickory Regional Airport |
| Location: | Hickory, North Carolina, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°44'27"N by 81°23'21"W |
| Area Served: | Hickory, North Carolina |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Hickory |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1190 feet (363 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from HKY |
| More Information: | HKY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
| GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from THU |
| More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Facts about Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):
- On August 2, 1941, Pennsylvania Central Airlines which later became Capital Airlines, brought the first scheduled air-carrier service to Hickory.
- In the early part of 1969, a new High Intensity Lighting system was installed on runway 6/24 as well as lighting on the parallel taxiway.
- The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
- After the airline deregulation of the late 1970s, the nature of commercial service would change for Hickory.
- Atlantis Airlines was one small airline of this type, offering up to 6 daily direct flights to Charlotte and Atlanta.
- The airport has an operating control tower from 7:00am to 9:00pm daily for safety and sequencing of aircraft landing and departing.
- The furthest airport from Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,494 miles (18,499 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Shortly thereafter, the runway which came to be designated 6/24 was lengthened and both of the existing runways were paved.
- Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
- 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.
- Thule is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
- 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 closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
