Nonstop flight route between Riverton, Wyoming, United States and Nuuk, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Riverton Regional Airport (RIW), Riverton, Wyoming, United States and Nuuk Airport (GOH), Nuuk, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,619 miles (or 4,216 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 Riverton Regional Airport and Nuuk Airport, 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 Riverton Regional Airport and Nuuk Airport. 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 Riverton Regional Airport (RIW):

• Riverton Regional Airport is a city owned, public use airport located three nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Riverton, a city in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States.
• The furthest airport from Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,758 miles (17,313 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) is Hunt Field (LND), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) SW of RIW.
• Because of Riverton Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,528 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RIW. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RIW a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) has 2 runways.

Facts about Nuuk Airport (GOH):

• The airport was constructed to serve the largest town in Greenland, yet due to space constraints at the location in a mountainous area and problems with the weather, it is unable to service large airliners or flights reaching Denmark.
• The closest airport to Nuuk Airport (GOH) is Maniitsoq Airport (JSU), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) NNW of GOH.
• Air Greenland's seasonal flights to Iqaluit in Canada finally resumed in summer 2012, returning again in summer 2013.
• The furthest airport from Nuuk Airport (GOH) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 10,779 miles (17,347 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• The northern end of the runway is less than 700 m from the shore of Nuup Kangerlua fjord.
• Nuuk Airport (GOH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Nuuk Airport handled 69,324 passengers last year.
• These well-grounded arguments for preserving the status quo pose a problem for the Government of Greenland, which oversees the development of the airport network through Mittarfeqarfiit, the airport administration authority.
• Because of Nuuk Airport's relatively low elevation of 283 feet, planes can take off or land at Nuuk 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 the early 1960s, after the establishment of Air Greenland on 7 November 1960 as Grønlandsfly, Nuuk was served exclusively by the PBY Catalina water planes, with the aircraft using the waterways of the Nuuk Port as a landing site.
• In addition to being known as "Nuuk Airport", other names for GOH include "Mittarfik Nuuk" and "Nuuk Lufthavn".
• Another option mentioned is to have Keflavik, Iceland as the international hub, close Kangerlussuaq, and expand Nuuk Airport runway slightly, so small jet planes can use it.
• Nuuk Airport is also home to the Beechcraft King Air B200 "Amaalik", used for air ambulance flights and occasional charters.
• The tragedy was one of the factors leading to the decision to invest in a helicopter fleet.