Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Awasa, Ethiopia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from THU to AWA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- THU Airport Information
- AWA Airport Information
- Facts about THU
- Facts about AWA
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWA
- List of Nearest Airports to AWA
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWA
- List of Furthest Airports from AWA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Awasa International Airport (AWA), Awasa, Ethiopia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,015 miles (or 9,681 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 Thule Air Base and Awasa International Airport, 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 Thule Air Base and Awasa International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
|
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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWA / HALA |
Airport Name: | Awasa International Airport |
Location: | Awasa, Ethiopia |
GPS Coordinates: | 7°4'1"N by 38°30'0"E |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5149 feet (1,569 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AWA |
More Information: | AWA Maps & Info |
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport, is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland.
- A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
- 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.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- 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 the winter of 1956/57 three KC-97 tankers and alternately one of two RB-47H aircraft made polar flights to inspect Soviet defenses.
- In 1961, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar was constructed at "J-Site," 21 km northeast of main base.
- 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.
Facts about Awasa International Airport (AWA):
- The closest airport to Awasa International Airport (AWA) is Arba Minch Airport (AMH), which is located 95 miles (152 kilometers) SW of AWA.
- The furthest airport from Awasa International Airport (AWA) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Awasa International Airport (meaning Awasa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,184 miles (19,609 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
- Because of Awasa International Airport's high elevation of 5,149 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AWA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AWA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Awasa International Airport (AWA) currently has only 1 runway.