Nonstop flight route between Lisbon, Portugal and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS), Lisbon, Portugal and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,143 miles (or 5,059 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 Lisbon Portela 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 Lisbon Portela 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 Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS):

• In addition to being known as "Lisbon Portela Airport", another name for LIS is "Aeroporto da Portela".
• The closest airport to Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) is Beja Airport (BYJ), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) SE of LIS.
• Carris city buses stop just outside Terminal 1 arrivals, with bus route 783 connecting to Marquis of Pombal Square, and Amoreiras and night route 208 to downtown Baixa and Cais do Sodré train station and to Gare do Oriente train station.
• Because of Lisbon Portela Airport's relatively low elevation of 374 feet, planes can take off or land at Lisbon Portela 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.
• Lisbon Portela Airport handled 16,024,955 passengers last year.
• The airport is now surrounded by urban development, being one of the few airports in Europe located inside a major city.
• With the long-term concession of ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal to the French group Vinci Airports the project for a new airport was postponed in July 2013, and it was decided that the existing Lisbon Airport would be further upgraded to surpass 20 million passengers annually, and would remain the present solution for this major European gateway.
• The airport opened on 15 October 1942 during the Second World War.
• The furthest airport from Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) is New Plymouth Airport (NPL), which is nearly antipodal to Lisbon Portela Airport (meaning Lisbon Portela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from New Plymouth Airport), and is located 12,258 miles (19,727 kilometers) away in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
• Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) has 2 runways.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• 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.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• 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 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.