An airport currently under construction in Greenland’s capital Nuuk will welcome its first international flights a year from today, operator Kalaallit Airports has confirmed.
The opening of the redeveloped Nuuk International Airport will take place in two stages: The terminal building will be operational from May 2024, with final completion and a formal opening slated for Nov. 28, 2024. “We are confident that the airport will be a gamechanger, not only for Nuuk but for the entire country,” Kalaallit Airports Managing Director Jens Lauridsen says.
Kalaallit Airports, set up by the country’s government in 2016, is behind new airports in Nuuk and tourism center Ilulissat. The airports will be equipped with runways that are 2,200 m (6,560 ft.) in length and 45 m (147 ft.) wide, allowing for direct flights to and from North America and Europe. In addition, a new airport is being built in Qaqortoq, a town in southern Greenland set within a system of fjords. This work will include a new 1,500-m (4,920-ft.) runway.
Speaking to Aviation Week earlier this month, Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen said the airport in Nuuk would be transformative for the flag-carrier, but explained that readying for the arrival of the new infrastructure was proving to be its biggest challenge.
“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,” Sørensen said. “Additionally, it is getting ready with new equipment, processes, routines, procedures, products and schedules—essentially everything.”
Currently, Greenland is linked to five international points, with Air Greenland flying to Copenhagen Kastrup, Reykjavik Keflavik Airport (KEF), in Iceland, and Stavanger, in Norway. Nordair serves Iceland's Akureyri and Reykjavik Domestic Airport. Icelandair also offers flights from KEF.
In October, Air Greenland also announced plans to restore flights to Iqaluit, the capital of the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, during the summer 2024 season after an absence of eight years. The route is one of several international additions the carrier is planning to make next year, both on its own metal and through interline agreements with Icelandair and SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
From June 26, 2024, through Oct. 23, Air Greenland will offer a weekly service on Wednesdays between the existing Nuuk Airport and Iqaluit Airport using De Havilland Canada Dash 8-200s. An onward connection to Canada’s capital Ottawa will be provided by regional carrier Canadian North.
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