Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Iqaluit Airport (YFB), Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 883 miles (or 1,420 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 Iqaluit Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• 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.
• Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE bases.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• Thule Air Base has served as the regional hub for nearby installations, including Cape Atholl, Camp Century, Camp TUTO, Sites 1 and 2, P-Mountain, J-Site, North and South Mountains, and a research rocket firing site.
• 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 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.

Facts about Iqaluit Airport (YFB):

• The closest airport to Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Kimmirut Airport (YLC), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) SSW of YFB.
• In January 2012 Air Greenland announced that a 1-hour, 45-minute flight from Nuuk to Iqaluit, down from three days when going via Copenhagen or Reykjavik and then on to Ottawa, would begin 18 June 2012, later changed to 15 June.
• The furthest airport from Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 10,428 miles (16,782 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• As a result of increased traffic, Nunavut government is planning an overhaul of the airport which is expected to cost between $250 and $300 million.
• There is a persistent but false rumour that Iqaluit Airport is one of the emergency landing sites for NASA's Space Shuttle, due to the length of its runway and its geographic location.
• The airport serves as a diversion airport on Polar routes.
• Iqaluit Airport (YFB) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the introduction of the intercontinental Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, fewer airlines stopped at Iqaluit.
• Because of Iqaluit Airport's relatively low elevation of 110 feet, planes can take off or land at Iqaluit 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.