Greenland is a fascinating destination that doesn’t actually see that many tourists. That’s for a variety of reasons, including that there’s only so much capacity in terms of accommodations. On top of that, flying to Greenland has historically been rather complex.
That will be changing soon, as before the end of the year we’re going to see the opening of the country’s major new international airport. Air Greenland has now adjusted its schedule to reflect this shift, so I wanted to cover all the details.
In this post:
Greenland’s capital is getting a new airport
Air Greenland is the flag carrier of Greenland, and the airline operates a fleet consisting primarily of one Airbus A330-800neo and seven De Havilland Canada Dash 8-200s. The carrier’s longest route is to Copenhagen. The catch is that while Nuuk is Greenland’s capital and most populous city, that’s not where the wide body jet currently flies to.
Instead, Air Greenland operates the A330-800neo between Kangerlussuaq Airport (SJF) and Copenhagen Airport (CPH). Kangerlussuaq is a small town, but the reason that the service is operated to there is because the airport has one of the only runways in Greenland big enough to handle larger jets.
Greenland has been working on changing that, by expanding Nuuk Airport (GOH). The most significant development is that the runway is being expanded, and will be soon be 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) long and 45 meters (147 feet) wide, making it big enough for the A330 to fly there. As a point of comparison, the airport’s runway is currently only 930 meters (3,051 feet) long, so it’ll more than double in length.
In late 2023, the airport operator announced an opening date of November 28, 2024, for the expanded airport. Much of the advancements should already be open before then, with the new terminal building expected to be operational as of May 2024, just without the full runway.
What are the practical implications of this new airport?
Air Greenland’s plan is to switch its A330 operations from Kangerlussuaq to Nuuk. Specifically, as of November 28, 2024, Air Greenland will transition its Copenhagen flight, as flagged by AeroRoutes. The flight will have different schedules depending on the day of the week, as follows:
GL780 Nuuk to Copenhagen departing 12:10PM arriving 7:30PM
GL779 Copenhagen to Nuuk departing 8:20AM arriving 10:10AM
GL782 Nuuk to Copenhagen departing 2:30PM arriving 10:00PM
GL781 Copenhagen to Nuuk departing 10:45AM arriving 12:35PM
This has huge implications:
- It will greatly simplify travel to & from Greenland for many visitors, and eliminate a connection, given that Kangerlussuaq is mainly just an airport that people transit
- Not only will this new airport shorten travel time, but previously any sort of bad weather would mean travelers would be stuck, while that should be less of an issue going forward
- Obviously this has a major impact on the small town of Kangerlussuaq, since much of the air service there is intended to connect to Air Greenland’s other services within Greenland
Air Greenland’s CEO explains what a challenge this move will be:
“It is preparing for the new infrastructure, both geographically — as we need to change the hub — and physically, as we need to relocate people and equipment. Additionally, it is getting ready with new equipment, processes, routines, procedures, products and schedules — essentially everything.”
Meanwhile the director of Greenland’s airports had the following to say:
“We are confident that the airport will be a game changer, not only for Nuuk but for the entire country.”
I’m curious if we see any major new expansion based on this airport change. You’d think that this would stimulate more tourism, though admittedly there are also some challenges. Air Greenland doesn’t have any additional aircraft on order, and ultimately most tourism is going to be seasonal, so it’s hard to make that profitable, short of operating flights with leased aircraft.
In the summer of 2024, we’ll see Air Greenland return to Canada, with a new 513-mile turboprop flight from Nuuk to Iqaluit, connecting Greenland to the Canadian Arctic. With Nuuk soon being capable of handling jets, it sure would be awesome to see Air Greenland fly to New York, or something.
Bottom line
Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, is getting a new international airport. The expanded airport will be opening as of late November 2024. The biggest improvement with this new airport is that it features a much longer runway, so it will be able to accommodate jets.
With this, the A330-800neo will be moved from Kangerlussuaq to Nuuk, which should represent a much easier travel experience for most. Air Greenland’s schedule has now been officially updated to reflect this.
What changes do you think we’ll see to air transport in Greenland once the new Nuuk International Airport opens?
Does anyone think we might see more airlines start flying to Greenland with the airport expansion? Perhaps SAS from Copenhagen? Or maybe a North American airline?
If a North American airline starts service to Nuuk, my money would be on Air Canada or United.
I could see SAS looking at this. Considering the amount of traffic between Denmark and Greenland it might be a moneymaker especially if things continue to grow there as they have been; plus SAS have experience operating in Nordic maritime climates and the nasty weather that they can feature. What will be very interesting is when the first Wizz Air (or similar) service gets launched.
Nuuk has been fairly easy to get to from most major/important cities in the US. They interline with Icelandair through KEF.
Example BOS-KEF-GOH.
Not sure I would call that easy. A red-eye to Keflavik followed by a 2.5 hour small prop flight to Nuuk is the sort of itinerary that will scare most American tourists off. Direct jet service to Nuuk would mean a night and day difference in tourism potential.
Are you sure the Iqaluit flight is happening? Seems they stopped selling that flight months ago and it hasn't shown up on their website.
The plan is still to run it. I've been told it will be back on sale in a matter of weeks. Fingers crossed!
Great news, been on my bucket list for years, hoping other airlines will fly direct.
Just wondering, who is paying for this?
Greenland has maybe 60,000 people - did the NATO powers perhaps kick in a few kroner in exchange for military rights?
Danish government.
Ben, I think there's a typo: SFJ (not SJF).
Hopefully the facilities within the new airport would be up to standard. The current Nuuk airport is very basic - with the good thing is that there's security check for domestic.
Looking forward to the opening of this new airport and maybe plan another trip to Greenland. Hopefully flight prices will remain relatively cheap offsetting the expensive cost when visiting the country.