Nonstop flight route between Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kumamoto Airport (KMJ), Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,833 miles (or 7,777 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 Kumamoto 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 Kumamoto 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 Kumamoto Airport (KMJ):

• Kumamoto was one of three nationally-owned airports to turn a profit in fiscal year 2011.
• The closest airport to Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of KMJ.
• Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kumamoto Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumamoto 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kumamoto Airport", other names for KMJ include "熊本空港" and "Kumamoto Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kumamoto Airport (meaning Kumamoto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Kumamoto Airport Driveway

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• A board of Air Force officers headed by Gordon P.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.