Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Nebraska, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Municipal Airport (OLU), Columbus, Nebraska, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,567 miles (or 4,132 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 Columbus 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 Columbus 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Columbus Municipal Airport (OLU):

• The closest airport to Columbus Municipal Airport (OLU) is Norfolk Regional Airport (OFK), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) N of OLU.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Municipal Airport (OLU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,601 miles (17,060 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbus Municipal Airport (OLU) has 2 runways.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• 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 AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.