Nonstop flight route between Rota Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rota International Airport (ROP), Rota Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,017 miles (or 9,684 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 Rota 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 Rota 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 Rota International Airport (ROP):

• In addition to being known as "Rota International Airport", another name for ROP is "GRO".
• Rota International Airport (ROP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Rota International Airport (ROP) is Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) SSW of ROP.
• The furthest airport from Rota International Airport (ROP) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Rota International Airport (meaning Rota International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,182 miles (19,605 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• Because of Rota International Airport's relatively low elevation of 607 feet, planes can take off or land at Rota International 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.

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.
• 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.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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.
• In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
• A delegation from NATO's Parliamentary Assembly visited Thule in early September 2010 and were told by the base commander that, at that time, approximately 600 personnel were serving at Thule, a mix of mostly U.S.
• 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".