Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Nuuk, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Nuuk Airport (GOH), Nuuk, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,036 miles (or 9,713 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 Santos Dumont 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 Santos Dumont 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 Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• In 2012, the airport was ranked 6th in terms of transported passengers and aircraft operations, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country.
• On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul, and VASP created an air shuttle service, the first of its kind in the world.
• A new public terminal building for seaplanes was inaugurated on 29 October 1938.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• There are taxis available.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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 addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".

Facts about Nuuk Airport (GOH):

• Nuuk Airport is also home to the Beechcraft King Air B200 "Amaalik", used for air ambulance flights and occasional charters.
• Nuuk Airport handled 69,324 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.
• In the early 1960s, water planes of the newly established Air Greenland landed in Nuuk Port.
• Nuuk Airport (GOH) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 addition to being known as "Nuuk Airport", other names for GOH include "Mittarfik Nuuk" and "Nuuk Lufthavn".
• The closest airport to Nuuk Airport (GOH) is Maniitsoq Airport (JSU), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) NNW of GOH.
• 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 tragedy was one of the factors leading to the decision to invest in a helicopter fleet.