Nonstop flight route between Saint-Louis, Senegal and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saint-Louis Airport (XLS), Saint-Louis, Senegal and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,564 miles (or 7,344 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 Saint-Louis 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 Saint-Louis 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 Saint-Louis Airport (XLS):

• Because of Saint-Louis Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Saint-Louis 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.
• Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Saint-Louis Airport", another name for XLS is "Aéroport de Saint-Louis".
• The closest airport to Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) is Richard Toll Airport (RDT), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) ENE of XLS.
• The furthest airport from Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) is Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), which is nearly antipodal to Saint-Louis Airport (meaning Saint-Louis Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santo-Pekoa International Airport), and is located 12,189 miles (19,616 kilometers) away in Luganville, Vanuatu.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• 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.
• Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.