Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Horta, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Horta International Airport (HOR), Horta, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,889 miles (or 4,650 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 Horta 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 Horta 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 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
• Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• 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 Horta International Airport (HOR):

• The furthest airport from Horta International Airport (HOR) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Horta International Airport (meaning Horta International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,302 miles (19,799 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• In 2012, the contamination of the gasoline tanks at Horta airport resulted in a deviation from normal flight operations, resulting in flights being refueled on other islands.
• The closest airport to Horta International Airport (HOR) is Pico Airport (PIX), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) E of HOR.
• Horta International Airport (HOR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport at Horta was inaugurated on August 24, 1971 by then President Almirante Américo Tomás.
• Horta International Airport handled 191,969 passengers last year.
• Because of Horta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 118 feet, planes can take off or land at Horta 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.
• In addition to being known as "Horta International Airport", another name for HOR is "Aeroporto Internacional da Horta".