Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Luganville, Vanuatu:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to SON:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- SON Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about SON
- 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 SON
- List of Nearest Airports to SON
- Map of Furthest Airports from SON
- List of Furthest Airports from SON
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,786 miles (or 12,530 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 Santo-Pekoa 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 Santo-Pekoa International 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: | SON / NVSS |
| Airport Name: | Santo-Pekoa International Airport |
| Location: | Luganville, Vanuatu |
| GPS Coordinates: | 15°30'20"S by 167°13'17"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
| Elevation: | 184 feet (56 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SON |
| More Information: | SON Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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 is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- 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".
- 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):
- The Thirteenth Air Force was based at Pekoa from 13 January 1943 until 20 January 1944 when it moved to Carney Airfield on Guadalcanal.
- Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
- Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
- The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
- The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
- Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa 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.
