Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and El Loa Airport (CJC), Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,842 miles (or 11,011 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 El Loa 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 El Loa 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):

• After liberation, Denmark ratified the Kauffmann treaty but began efforts to take over U.S.
• 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 addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of 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.

Facts about El Loa Airport (CJC):

• The furthest airport from El Loa Airport (CJC) is Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport (WUZ), which is nearly antipodal to El Loa Airport (meaning El Loa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport), and is located 12,369 miles (19,906 kilometers) away in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China.
• Because of El Loa Airport's high elevation of 7,543 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CJC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CJC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "El Loa Airport", other names for CJC include "Aeropuerto El Loa" and "El Loa Airdrome".
• El Loa Airport handled 315,725 passengers last year.
• The airport served 247,821 in 2004, 273,275 in 2005, and 315,725 in 2006.
• The closest airport to El Loa Airport (CJC) is Carolina Airport (CLN), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of CJC.