Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Wrangell, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to WRG:
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- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- WRG Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about WRG
- 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 WRG
- List of Nearest Airports to WRG
- Map of Furthest Airports from WRG
- List of Furthest Airports from WRG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Wrangell Airport (WRG), Wrangell, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,058 miles (or 3,312 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 relatively short distance between Thule Air Base and Wrangell Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | WRG / PAWG |
| Airport Name: | Wrangell Airport |
| Location: | Wrangell, Alaska, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 56°29'3"N by 132°22'10"W |
| Area Served: | Wrangell, Alaska |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 49 feet (15 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WRG |
| More Information: | WRG Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Wrangell Airport (WRG):
- The closest airport to Wrangell Airport (WRG) is Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport (PSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NW of WRG.
- Because of Wrangell Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Wrangell 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.
- The furthest airport from Wrangell Airport (WRG) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,572 miles (17,015 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
- Wrangell Airport (WRG) currently has only 1 runway.
