Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Sayaboury, Laos:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Sayaboury Airport (ZBY), Sayaboury, Laos would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,808 miles (or 9,347 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 Sayaboury 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 Sayaboury Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Thule Air Base (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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• 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 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 the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
• Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.

Facts about Sayaboury Airport (ZBY):

• Because of Sayaboury Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Sayaboury 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 Sayaboury Airport (ZBY) is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport (NZC), which is nearly antipodal to Sayaboury Airport (meaning Sayaboury Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), and is located 12,064 miles (19,415 kilometers) away in Nazca, Ica Region, Peru.
• The closest airport to Sayaboury Airport (ZBY) is Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), which is located 54 miles (86 kilometers) NNE of ZBY.