Nonstop flight route between Hotan, Xinjiang, China and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hotan Airport (HTN), Hotan, Xinjiang, China and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,471 miles (or 7,196 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 Hotan 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 Hotan 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 Hotan Airport (HTN):

• Hotan Airport (HTN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Hotan Airport (HTN) is Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL), which is located 239 miles (385 kilometers) SSW of HTN.
• In addition to being known as "Hotan Airport", other names for HTN include "和田机场" and "Hétián Jīchǎng".
• Because of Hotan Airport's high elevation of 4,672 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HTN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HTN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Hotan Airport (HTN) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,566 miles (18,613 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
• 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.
• 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.
• Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE bases.
• In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• 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.
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.