Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ), Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,685 miles (or 4,321 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 Mainz Finthen 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 Mainz Finthen 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):

• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• A board of Air Force officers headed by Gordon P.
• 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.
• 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.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• There is only a brief period each year in the summer when sea ice thins sufficiently to send supply ships to the base.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• Originally established as a Strategic Air Command installation, Thule would periodically serve as a dispersal base for B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojet aircraft during the 1950s, as well as providing an ideal site to test the operability and maintainability of these weapon systems in extreme cold weather.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.

Facts about Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ):

• Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) has 2 runways.
• Because of Mainz Finthen Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Mainz Finthen 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.
• From Ober-Olm JG 52 and 76 were involved in the air fighting during the Battle of France, both units moving west along with the advancing German forces.
• The closest airport to Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) NE of QMZ.
• The airport serves the general aviation community, with no commercial airline service available.
• The furthest airport from Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,959 miles (19,246 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Mainz Finthen Airport", other names for QMZ include "Flugplatz Mainz-Finthen" and "Advanced Landing Ground Y-64".
• Allied Army units moved into the Mainz area in mid-March 1945 as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany and Ober-Olm airfield was attacked by Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers to deny the retreating German forces use of the facility.
• On 16 and 17 November 1980, Holy Mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II during his first major pastoral visit to Germany on the airfield with thousands of believers attending.
• The airport was taken over by the French military in July 1945, and engineers moved in to clear the wartime wreckage and rebuild the facility.