Ilulissat Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Ilulissat, da, Ilulissat Lufthavn); () is a minor

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

serving

Ilulissat Ilulissat, formerly Jakobshavn or Jacobshaven, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the t ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, the entire Disko Bay Region, the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

West Greenland Kitaa, originally Vestgrønland ("West Greenland"), is a former administrative division of Greenland. It was by far the most populated of the divisions, being home to almost 90% of the total population. The divisions were de facto replaced by st ...

. It is the 59th largest airport in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

with 83,000 passengers in 2012 and is the second airport built in Greenland for civilian travel partially funded by the EU (former EC)

Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds, ESIFs) are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural ...

. It is the third-busiest airport in

, and one of the busiest for international travel in

. The airport is located north-east of

, just of city centre. It was built in 1983,Air Greenland, History
replacing the heliport. The airport is the main hub out of three used by

Air Greenland Air Greenland A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly), also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 32 aircraft, including 1 airliner used for transatlantic and cha ...

Airport expansion

Buiobuione_Aeroporto_di_Ilulissat_Groenlandia

The purpose of Ilulissat Airport has been debated in Greenland for decades; there has been pressure for runway extension from the local tourist industry and municipal authorities. An expansion considering constructing a new airport in Ilulissat is in progress. The expansion of the airport will feature a runway to let the airport receive direct international

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

flights from mainland

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

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. It will be located just north of the present airport The airport will then (together with

Nuuk Airport Nuuk Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Nuuk; da, Godthåb Lufthavn; is an airport serving Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The airport is a technical base and focus city for Air Greenland, the flag carrier airline of Greenland, linking the capital with s ...

which will also be expanded) join or even replace

Kangerlussuaq Airport Kangerlussuaq Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Kangerlussuaq, da, Søndre Strømfjord Lufthavn) is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only two c ...

as a primary hub, effectively becoming an international gateway to western and northwestern Greenland. There is a general debate on extending or replacing most airports in Greenland, since most are ill located former air bases, or very short.

Airlines and destinations

Air Greenland operates government contract flights to villages in the Disko Bay area. These mostly cargo flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked. Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day. Settlement flights in the Disko Bay and

Aasiaat Aasiaat () or Ausiait, formerly Egedesminde, is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland, located in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 3,069 as of 2020, it is Greenland's fo ...

archipelago areas are operated only during winter and spring. During summer and autumn, communication between settlements is by sea only, serviced by

Diskoline Disko Line A/S is a passenger and freight ferry line in western Greenland. It was founded in 2004DiskolineAbout/ref> as a small freight company. Complementary transport services Diskoline provides sea transport services on contract with the ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 29 January 2014, a De Havilland DHC-8 operated by Air Greenland (Flight 3205) suffered substantial damage in a landing accident. On landing, the left main gear collapsed and the plane skidded down a slope and came to a rest near the perimeter fence. This caused three injuries, not serious, and aircraft scrapped. The cause was a pilot error in difficult wind conditions.

References

External links

{{authority control Airports in Greenland Airports in the Arctic Ilulissat Disko Bay

Airport expansion

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links