Nonstop flight route between Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from LVS to THU:
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- About this route
- LVS Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about LVS
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to LVS
- List of Nearest Airports to LVS
- Map of Furthest Airports from LVS
- List of Furthest Airports from LVS
- 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 Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS), Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,041 miles (or 4,895 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 Las Vegas Municipal 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 Las Vegas Municipal 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: | LVS / KLVS |
| Airport Name: | Las Vegas Municipal Airport |
| Location: | Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°39'15"N by 105°8'32"W |
| Area Served: | Las Vegas, New Mexico |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Las Vegas |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 6877 feet (2,096 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from LVS |
| More Information: | LVS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
| Airport Names: |
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| 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 Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS):
- The closest airport to Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS) is Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), which is located 53 miles (86 kilometers) W of LVS.
- Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS) has 2 runways.
- Because of Las Vegas Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,877 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LVS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LVS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Continental Airlines stopped there until around 1952, one DC-3 a day each way between Denver and Albuquerque, but LVS may not have seen an airliner since then.
- The furthest airport from Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,135 miles (17,920 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Thule Air Base (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.
- In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- 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.
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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.
- 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 Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport, is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland.
- There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
