Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to SMV:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- SMV Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about SMV
- 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 SMV
- List of Nearest Airports to SMV
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMV
- List of Furthest Airports from SMV
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Samedan Airport (SMV), St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,935 miles (or 4,723 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 Samedan 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 Samedan 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: | SMV / LSZS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland |
| GPS Coordinates: | 46°32'2"N by 9°53'2"E |
| Area Served: | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
| Airport Type: | Public and military |
| Elevation: | 5600 feet (1,707 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SMV |
| More Information: | SMV Maps & Info |
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- A delegation from NATO's Parliamentary Assembly visited Thule in early September 2010 and were told by the base commander that, at that time, approximately 600 personnel were serving at Thule, a mix of mostly U.S.
- 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 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
- After liberation, Denmark ratified the Kauffmann treaty but began efforts to take over U.S.
- 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.
Facts about Samedan Airport (SMV):
- The closest airport to Samedan Airport (SMV) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) SW of SMV.
- In addition to being known as "Samedan Airport", another name for SMV is "Flughafen Engadin".
- The furthest airport from Samedan Airport (SMV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Samedan Airport (meaning Samedan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,075 miles (19,433 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Samedan Airport (SMV) currently has only 1 runway.
- Samedan Airport, also known as Engadin Airport, is a regional airport in Samedan in the Engadin valley of Switzerland, 5 km from St.
- The airport was used as one of the locations for filming "Where Eagles Dare".
- Because of Samedan Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SMV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SMV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
