Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from HOU to THU:
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- About this route
- HOU Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about HOU
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to HOU
- List of Nearest Airports to HOU
- Map of Furthest Airports from HOU
- List of Furthest Airports from HOU
- 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 William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), Houston, Texas, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,354 miles (or 5,398 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 William P. Hobby 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 William P. Hobby 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: | HOU / KHOU |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Houston, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 29°38'44"N by 95°16'44"W |
| Area Served: | Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Houston |
| Elevation: | 46 feet (14 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 4 |
| View all routes: | Routes from HOU |
| More Information: | HOU 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 William P. Hobby Airport (HOU):
- Airline flights resumed at Hobby in 1971.
- The furthest airport from William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,002 miles (17,706 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- In addition to being known as "William P. Hobby Airport", another name for HOU is "Houston Hobby".
- Hobby Airport opened in 1927 as a private landing field in a 600-acre pasture known as W.T.
- Developments at Hobby in the 2000s include a new concourse to serve Southwest Airlines, designed by Leo A Daly and the upgrade of Runway 4/22.
- Shared-ride shuttle service is available at HOU.
- The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center serves as the airport's ARTCC.
- William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) has 4 runways.
- William P. Hobby Airport handled 9,054,001 passengers last year.
- The closest airport to William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of HOU.
- Because of William P. Hobby Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at William P. Hobby 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):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
- 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.
- 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 addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
