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):
- In addition to being known as "Yakutat Airport", another name for YAK is "Yakutat Army Airfield".
- Yakutat Airport origins date from 1940 when Yakutat Army Airfield was constructed as part of the United States Army's long-range defense program for Alaska.
- Yakutat Airport (YAK) has 2 runways.
- 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.
- 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):
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- In the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
- 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 1961, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar was constructed at "J-Site," 21 km northeast of main base.
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- 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.
- Originally established as a Strategic Air Command installation, Thule would periodically serve as a dispersal base for B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojet aircraft during the 1950s, as well as providing an ideal site to test the operability and maintainability of these weapon systems in extreme cold weather.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.