Nonstop flight route between Yakutat, Alaska, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from YAK to THU:
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- About this route
- YAK Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about YAK
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to YAK
- List of Nearest Airports to YAK
- Map of Furthest Airports from YAK
- List of Furthest Airports from YAK
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Yakutat Airport (YAK), Yakutat, Alaska, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,988 miles (or 3,199 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 Yakutat Airport and Thule Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | YAK / PAYA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Yakutat, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 59°30'11"N by 139°39'37"W |
Area Served: | Yakutat, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF - Southeast Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 33 feet (10 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from YAK |
More Information: | YAK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
View all routes: | Routes from THU |
More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Facts about Yakutat Airport (YAK):
- As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 11,028 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 12,158 enplanements in 2009, and 10,035 in 2010.
- In addition to being known as "Yakutat Airport", another name for YAK is "Yakutat Army Airfield".
- The closest airport to Yakutat Airport (YAK) is Icy Bay Airport (ICY), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) WNW of YAK.
- The furthest airport from Yakutat Airport (YAK) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,551 miles (16,979 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Yakutat Airport (YAK) has 2 runways.
- Because of Yakutat Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Yakutat 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.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- 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.
- In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
- 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.
- 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 Air Base is home to the 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command.
- 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.
- Thule Air Base is the U.S.
- 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.