Nonstop flight route between Santiago, Chile and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), Santiago, Chile and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,596 miles (or 12,224 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL):

• The furthest airport from Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) is Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA), which is nearly antipodal to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (meaning Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ankang Wulipu Airport), and is located 12,387 miles (19,934 kilometers) away in Ankang, Shaanxi, China.
• The closest airport to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) NW of SCL.
• Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) has 2 runways.
• In 2008, the airport terminal reached its maximum design capacity of 9.5 million annual passengers, 2 years earlier than forecast.
• In June 2013, the Chilean Ministry of Public Works started Phase 1 of the airport expansion, to be completed in 2014.
• In addition to being known as "Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport", other names for SCL include "Pudahuel Airport" and "Santiago International Airport".
• Arturo Merino Benitez is about 17 kilometres by car from Santiago's city centre.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• 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 addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.