Nonstop flight route between Haines, Alaska, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Haines Airport (HNS), Haines, Alaska, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,938 miles (or 3,118 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 Haines 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 Haines Airport (HNS):

• Haines Airport (HNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Haines Airport covers an area of 124 acres at an elevation of 15 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Haines Airport (HNS) is Skagway Airport (SGY), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) NNE of HNS.
• The furthest airport from Haines Airport (HNS) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,491 miles (16,883 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Because of Haines Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Haines 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 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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.
• Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport, is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland.
• 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 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 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In 1961, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar was constructed at "J-Site," 21 km northeast of main base.
• Thule Air Base is the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".