Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Nairobi, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Nairobi, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,556 miles (or 10,550 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 Jomo Kenyatta 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 Jomo Kenyatta 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 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.
• There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
• In 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• 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.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.

Facts about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO):

• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NBO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NBO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Once complete, the terminal will have 60 check-in positions, 32 air bridges and eight remote gates.
• The groundbreaking of a new passenger terminal dubbed the "Greenfield Terminal" with a capacity of 20 million passengers was held on 3 December 2013.
• The architects for the terminal were Pascall+Watson, a London based firm that also designed Heathrow Terminal 5 and Dublin Airport Terminal 2.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport handled 580,363 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,621 miles (18,703 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Wilson Airport (WIL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) W of NBO.
• International arrivals are bused to a temporary facility set up in the ground floor of the new parkade.
• After Kenya's independence in 1964, the airport was renamed Nairobi International Airport to more accurately reflect the city it served.
• The original terminal, located on the north side of the runway, is used by the Kenya Air Force and is sometimes referred as Old Embakasi Airport.