Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Florida, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne International Airport (MLB), Melbourne, Florida, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,370 miles (or 5,423 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 Melbourne International 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 Melbourne International 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 Melbourne International Airport (MLB):

• The closest airport to Melbourne International Airport (MLB) is Patrick Air Force Base (COF), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NNE of MLB.
• Because of Melbourne International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Melbourne International 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 1969 a National DC-8 flew Los Angeles-Tampa-Melbourne-Miami.
• People Express Airlines started nonstops to Newark, Baltimore, Columbus and Buffalo, New York in spring 1982.
• Melbourne International Airport (MLB) has 3 runways.
• The Florida Institute of Technology Research, Science and Technology Park covers about 100 acres surrounded by airport tenants such as Northrop Grumman Joint Stars, G.E Railway, Rockwell Collins, DRS Technologies, and L-3, and leases property to two hospitals and one hotel.
• The furthest airport from Melbourne International Airport (MLB) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,549 miles (18,586 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• 229,000 passengers used the airport in 2009, a 24% drop from 2008.

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.
• 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 became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• Thule Air Base is home to the 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".