Nonstop flight route between Westport, New Zealand and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westport Airport (WSZ), Westport, New Zealand and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,479 miles (or 15,254 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 Westport Airport and Thule Air Base, 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 Westport Airport and Thule Air Base. 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 Westport Airport (WSZ):

• Westport Airport (WSZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Westport Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Westport 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 Westport Airport (WSZ) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is nearly antipodal to Westport Airport (meaning Westport Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Braga Airport), and is located 12,426 miles (19,998 kilometers) away in Braga, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Westport Airport (WSZ) is Greymouth Airport (GMN), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SSW of WSZ.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In 1818, Sir John Ross’s expedition made first contact with nomadic Polar Eskimos in the area.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
• Thule is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
• 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 1959, the airbase was the main staging point for the construction of Camp Century, some 150 mi from the base.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.