Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to BWH:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- BWH Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about BWH
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to BWH
- List of Nearest Airports to BWH
- Map of Furthest Airports from BWH
- List of Furthest Airports from BWH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and RMAF Butterworth (BWH), Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,755 miles (or 10,870 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 RMAF Butterworth, 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 RMAF Butterworth. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
| GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from THU |
| More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BWH / WMKB |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 5°27'57"N by 100°23'27"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence (Malaysia) |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 8 feet (2 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BWH |
| More Information: | BWH Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
- Thule Air Base has served as the regional hub for nearby installations, including Cape Atholl, Camp Century, Camp TUTO, Sites 1 and 2, P-Mountain, J-Site, North and South Mountains, and a research rocket firing site.
- Thule Air Base is the U.S.
- Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE bases.
- 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 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.
Facts about RMAF Butterworth (BWH):
- The furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (BWH) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
- RAF Butterworth was officially opened in October 1941, as a Royal Air Force station which was a part of the British defence plan for defending the Malayan Peninsula against an imminent threat of invasion by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II.
- The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (BWH) is RMAF Butterworth (UTE), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BWH.
- In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", another name for BWH is "TUDM Butterworth".
- Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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.
- RMAF Butterworth (BWH) currently has only 1 runway.
- During the Malayan Emergency that was to last from 1948 to 1960, RAF as well as RAAF and RNZAF units stationed at the airfield played an active role from 1950 in helping to curb the communist insurgency in the jungles of Malaya by attacking suspected hideouts and harassing the communist guerrillas.
