Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Fletcher, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Fletcher, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,872 miles (or 4,623 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 Thule Air Base and Asheville Regional 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 Thule Air Base and Asheville Regional 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• 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.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• 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 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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 the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
• 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.

Facts about Asheville Regional Airport (AVL):

• In April 2010 President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama landed in Asheville aboard Air Force One for a weekend getaway.
• On October 27, 2004, a Beechcraft Duke crashed about 0.8 of a mile off the departure end of Runway 34 after an apparent right engine failure, killing all 4 people on board.
• A Concorde visited AVL during a 1987 promotional tour and was snowed-in overnight.
• Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,430 miles (18,395 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On March 14, 2003 a Cessna 177 Cardinal crashed into Old Fort Mountain after taking off from the airport.
• The closest airport to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of AVL.