Nonstop flight route between Morioka, Honshū, Japan and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hanamaki Airport (HNA), Morioka, Honshū, Japan and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,319 miles (or 6,951 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 Hanamaki 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 Hanamaki 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 Hanamaki Airport (HNA):

• Hanamaki Airport (HNA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hanamaki Airport", other names for HNA include "花巻空港" and "Hanamaki Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Hanamaki Airport (HNA) is Akita Airport (AXT), which is located 51 miles (81 kilometers) WNW of HNA.
• The furthest airport from Hanamaki Airport (HNA) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,536 miles (18,566 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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.
• After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
• 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 Air Base is the U.S.