Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to UIK:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- UIK Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about UIK
- 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 UIK
- List of Nearest Airports to UIK
- Map of Furthest Airports from UIK
- List of Furthest Airports from UIK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Ust-Ilimsk (UIK), Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,124 miles (or 5,028 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 Ust-Ilimsk, 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 Ust-Ilimsk. 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: | UIK / UIBS |
| Airport Name: | Ust-Ilimsk |
| Location: | Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 58°7'59"N by 102°33'24"E |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1339 feet (408 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from UIK |
| More Information: | UIK Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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.
- Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- 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 closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
Facts about Ust-Ilimsk (UIK):
- Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) is Bratsk Airport (BTK), which is located 126 miles (203 kilometers) SSW of UIK.
- The furthest airport from Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) is Ushuaia International Airport (USH), which is nearly antipodal to Ust-Ilimsk (meaning Ust-Ilimsk is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ushuaia International Airport), and is located 12,021 miles (19,346 kilometers) away in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
