Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Wanaka, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to WKA:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- WKA Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about WKA
- 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 WKA
- List of Nearest Airports to WKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from WKA
- List of Furthest Airports from WKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Wanaka Airport (WKA), Wanaka, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,711 miles (or 15,628 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 Wanaka 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 Wanaka 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: | WKA / NZWF |
| Airport Name: | Wanaka Airport |
| Location: | Wanaka, New Zealand |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°43'20"S by 169°14'44"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Wanaka Town Board and Management Committee |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1142 feet (348 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WKA |
| More Information: | WKA Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Wanaka Airport (WKA):
- The furthest airport from Wanaka Airport (WKA) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Wanaka Airport (meaning Wanaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
- Wanaka Airport is the airport servicing the town of Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand and the surrounding ski fields.
- Scheduled services were operated by Air New Zealand's 19 seater Beechcraft 1900D to Christchurch, this finished on 30 January 2013.
- Wanaka Airport (WKA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Wanaka Airport (WKA) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SW of WKA.
