Nonstop flight route between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG), San Juan, Puerto Rico and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,014 miles (or 6,459 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 Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG):

• Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Puerto Rico National Guard Aviation Support Facility in Isla Verde is right next to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport", another name for SIG is "Isla Grande AirportAeropuerto Isla Grande".
• Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport covers an area of 102 acres at an elevation of 9 feet above mean sea level.
• Isla Grande was renamed in honor of United States Air Force Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci, an F-111 pilot who was killed in action during Operation El Dorado Canyon.
• The furthest airport from Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (meaning Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,244 miles (19,704 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 closest airport to Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) is Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) E of SIG.

Facts about Thule Air Base (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.
• 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".
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• Thule is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
• After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.