Nonstop flight route between Kleinzee, South Africa and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kleinsee Airport (KLZ), Kleinzee, South Africa and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,141 miles (or 13,101 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 Kleinsee 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 Kleinsee 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 Kleinsee Airport (KLZ):

• The furthest airport from Kleinsee Airport (KLZ) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,878 miles (19,115 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Kleinsee Airport (KLZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kleinsee Airport (KLZ) is Alexander Bay Airport (ALJ), which is located 84 miles (135 kilometers) NNW of KLZ.
• Because of Kleinsee Airport's relatively low elevation of 270 feet, planes can take off or land at Kleinsee 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):

• 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.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• On 21 January 1968, a B-52G Stratofortress from the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on a secret airborne nuclear alert crashed and burned on the ice near Thule Air Base.
• 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 is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
• Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".