Nonstop flight route between Narsarsuaq, Greenland and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK), Narsarsuaq, Greenland and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,068 miles (or 4,937 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 Narsarsuaq Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 Narsarsuaq Airport and Gray Army Airfield. 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 Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK):

• In the 1960s and 1970s Greenlandair and SAS were operating with Douglas DC-6s and Icelandair with Boeing 727s in Greenland, and in the 80's SAS was using DC-8s at Narsarsuaq.
• In addition to being known as "Narsarsuaq Airport", other names for UAK include "Mittarfik Narsarsuaq" and "Narsarsuaq Lufthavn".
• Because of Narsarsuaq Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Narsarsuaq 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.
• Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Civil air traffic began in 1949 with DC-4s from the Scandinavian Airlines System and Icelandair.
• The furthest airport from Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 11,062 miles (17,803 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• The closest airport to Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK) is Igaliku Heliport (QFX), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of UAK.
• Narsarsuaq Airport handled 26,284 passengers last year.
• The airport served as a regional focus city for Air Greenland until the late 2000s, when tough economic conditions forced the airline to raise the low season prices several times.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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.
• Since 2005 the field has been experiencing another major expansion.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• The Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
• The 1938 construction included two paved runways, a boiler plant, headquarters building, metal balloon hangar, six-plane hangar, corrugated-iron hangar, storehouse, flight-surgeon office, and film-storage building.
• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, conducts high-altitude search-and-rescue operations.
• The Air Transport Command.