Nonstop flight route between Maseru, Lesotho and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), Maseru, Lesotho and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,293 miles (or 13,346 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 Moshoeshoe I 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 Moshoeshoe I 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 Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU):

• The closest airport to Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU) is Mafeteng Airport (MFC), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) SW of MSU.
• The furthest airport from Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,801 miles (18,991 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU) has 2 runways.
• Because of Moshoeshoe I International Airport's high elevation of 5,348 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Thule Air Base (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.
• On 21 January 1968, a B-52G Stratofortress from the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on a secret airborne nuclear alert crashed and burned on the ice near Thule Air Base.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• 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.
• Originally established as a Strategic Air Command installation, Thule would periodically serve as a dispersal base for B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojet aircraft during the 1950s, as well as providing an ideal site to test the operability and maintainability of these weapon systems in extreme cold weather.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.