Nonstop flight route between Kashgar, Xinjiang, China and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kashgar Airport (KHG), Kashgar, Xinjiang, China and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,270 miles (or 6,872 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 Kashgar 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 Kashgar 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 Kashgar Airport (KHG):

• In addition to being known as "Kashgar Airport", other names for KHG include "喀什机场" and "Kāshí Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Kashgar Airport (KHG) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,526 miles (18,550 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Kashgar Airport's high elevation of 4,529 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KHG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KHG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Kashgar Airport (KHG) is Osh International Airport (OSS), which is located 186 miles (299 kilometers) WNW of KHG.
• Kashgar Airport (KHG) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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 AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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 Air Base is home to the 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• 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 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.