Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Guangzhou, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), Guangzhou, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,532 miles (or 8,903 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 Guangzhou Baiyun International 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 Guangzhou Baiyun International 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• 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.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.

Facts about Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN):

• In addition to being known as "Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport", other names for CAN include "广州白云国际机场" and "Guǎngzhōu Báiyún Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Because of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Guangzhou Baiyun International 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.
• Construction began in 2006 and the hub was originally scheduled to open on December 26, 2008.
• In August 2008, the airport's expansion plan was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.
• The furthest airport from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) is Gobernador Horacio Guzmán Internacional Airport (JUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (meaning Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Horacio Guzmán Internacional Airport), and is located 12,314 miles (19,818 kilometers) away in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) is Foshan Shadi Airport (FUO), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of CAN.
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) has 2 runways.
• In 2013, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was China's second busiest and world's 16th busiest airport by passenger traffic, with 52,450,262 passengers handled.