Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Malakal, South Sudan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to MAK:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- MAK Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about MAK
- 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 MAK
- List of Nearest Airports to MAK
- Map of Furthest Airports from MAK
- List of Furthest Airports from MAK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Malakal Airport (MAK), Malakal, South Sudan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,741 miles (or 9,240 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 Malakal 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 Malakal Airport. 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: |
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| 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: | MAK / HSSM |
| Airport Name: | Malakal Airport |
| Location: | Malakal, South Sudan |
| GPS Coordinates: | 9°33'32"N by 31°39'7"E |
| Area Served: | Malakal, South Sudan |
| Operator/Owner: | Civil Aviation Authority of South Sudan |
| Airport Type: | Public, Civilian |
| Elevation: | 1291 feet (393 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from MAK |
| More Information: | MAK Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
- 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.
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Malakal Airport (MAK):
- The furthest airport from Malakal Airport (MAK) is Ahe Airport (AHE), which is nearly antipodal to Malakal Airport (meaning Malakal Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ahe Airport), and is located 12,072 miles (19,428 kilometers) away in Ahe, French Polynesia.
- The closest airport to Malakal Airport (MAK) is Beica Airport (BEI), which is located 196 miles (315 kilometers) E of MAK.
- Malakal Airport (MAK) currently has only 1 runway.
- The airport resides at an elevation of 1,291 feet above mean sea level.
