Nonstop flight route between Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rottnest Airport (RTS), Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,357 miles (or 15,059 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 Rottnest 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 Rottnest 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 Rottnest Airport (RTS):

• The airport opened in November 1930 and has been used regularly since then for private and small commercial operations, ferrying workers and holiday makers between Perth and the island.
• Rottnest Airport (RTS) currently has only 1 runway.
• MacRobertson Miller Airlines took over services after Wood's Airways using both DC-3 and Fokker F27 Friendship, until the route became uneconomical.
• Rottnest Airlines operated the service until 1999 when it was taken over by Frank Stynman who operates a four and six-seater daily service from Jandakot called Rottnest Air-Taxi.
• The furthest airport from Rottnest Airport (RTS) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Rottnest Airport (meaning Rottnest Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,970 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.
• Rottnest Island Airport is a small airport for light aircraft, situated about 800 m from the main settlement at Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island and 10 nautical miles northwest of Fremantle.
• Because of Rottnest Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Rottnest 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.
• The single 1,290 m × 18 m runway runs east-west and is situated behind Thomsons Bay and south of Government House Lake.
• The closest airport to Rottnest Airport (RTS) is Jandakot Airport (JAD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ESE of RTS.

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.
• 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.
• Thule Air Base is the U.S.
• 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 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport, is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland.
• On 21 January 1968, a B-52G Stratofortress from the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on a secret airborne nuclear alert crashed and burned on the ice near Thule Air Base.
• The ratification of the treaty in 1951 did not change much, except that the Danish national flag Dannebrog must be side by side with Stars and Stripes on the base.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.