Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,451 miles (or 3,945 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 relatively short distance between Rapid City Regional Airport and Thule Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP):

• The furthest airport from Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,585 miles (17,035 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The terminal building opened in 1988.
• Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) has 2 runways.
• Rapid City Regional Airport is a city-owned public airport nine miles southeast of Rapid City, in Pennington County, South Dakota.
• The closest airport to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) N of RAP.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• 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.
• After liberation, Denmark ratified the Kauffmann treaty but began efforts to take over U.S.
• 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.