Nonstop flight route between Phalaborwa, South Africa and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW), Phalaborwa, South Africa and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,982 miles (or 12,847 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 Hendrik Van Eck 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 Hendrik Van Eck 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 Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW):

• The furthest airport from Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,944 miles (19,222 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW) is Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) SSW of PHW.
• In addition to being known as "Hendrik Van Eck Airport", another name for PHW is "Phalaborwa Airport".
• Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of 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.
• 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.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• Thule Air Base is the U.S.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.