Nonstop flight route between Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from LAY to THU:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- LAY Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about LAY
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to LAY
- List of Nearest Airports to LAY
- Map of Furthest Airports from LAY
- List of Furthest Airports from LAY
- 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 Ladysmith Airport (LAY), Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,270 miles (or 13,309 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 Ladysmith 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 Ladysmith 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: | LAY / FALY |
Airport Name: | Ladysmith Airport |
Location: | Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 28°34'47"S by 29°45'11"E |
Operator/Owner: | Municipal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 3548 feet (1,081 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from LAY |
More Information: | LAY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
|
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 Ladysmith Airport (LAY):
- The furthest airport from Ladysmith Airport (LAY) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,789 miles (18,972 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Ladysmith Airport (LAY) is Mokhotlong Airport (MKH), which is located 64 miles (102 kilometers) SW of LAY.
- Ladysmith Airport (LAY) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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.
- A board of Air Force officers headed by Gordon P.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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".
- 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.