Nonstop flight route between Kitadaito, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kitadaito Airport (KTD), Kitadaito, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,305 miles (or 8,537 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 Kitadaito 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 Kitadaito 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 Kitadaito Airport (KTD):

• The furthest airport from Kitadaito Airport (KTD) is Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport (JOI), which is nearly antipodal to Kitadaito Airport (meaning Kitadaito Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,982 kilometers) away in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Kitadaito Airport (KTD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kitadaito Airport's relatively low elevation of 71 feet, planes can take off or land at Kitadaito 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.
• The closest airport to Kitadaito Airport (KTD) is Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SSW of KTD.
• Kitadaito Airport was opened in 1971 as an emergency 760 meter airstrip, constructed of crushed coral by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands.
• In addition to being known as "Kitadaito Airport", other names for KTD include "北大東空港" and "Kitadaitō Kūkō".

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• 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".
• 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 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.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.