Nonstop flight route between Fort Myers, Florida, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), Fort Myers, Florida, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,482 miles (or 5,604 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 Southwest Florida 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 Southwest Florida 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 Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW):

• Southwest Florida International Airport handled 7,637,801 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,486 miles (18,485 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Southwest Florida International Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Southwest Florida 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.
• Plans are in place for Skyplex – a commercial and industrial park in the location of the old terminal.
• For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2011, the airport had 83,385 aircraft operations, an average of 228 per day.
• The closest airport to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Page Field (FMY), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of RSW.
• Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• A new $16 million Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting facility opened in July 2013.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• After liberation, Denmark ratified the Kauffmann treaty but began efforts to take over U.S.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".