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 ...
, grouped by type and sorted by location. Air travel is extremely important in Greenland, since there are generally no roads between settlements.
Arctic Umiaq Line
Arctic Umiaq Line A/S (AUL) or Arctic Umiaq is a passenger and freight shipping line in Greenland. Its name derives from the Kalaallisut word for the traditional Inuit passenger boat, the umiak, distinguished from the kayak, used for hunting. Th ...
provides passenger and freight services by sea but is limited to the southwest coast and travel time is long and departures sparse.
History
The first airports in Greenland were built by and for the United States defense. The first and largest was
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 ...
in 1941, followed by
Narsarsuaq Airport
Narsarsuaq Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Narsarsuaq) is an airport located in Narsarsuaq, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Along with Kangerlussuaq Airport, it is one of two airports in Greenland capable of serving l ...
in 1942 (and now-abandoned
USAAF
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...
in 1953 (although Thule is not operated as a civilian airport) and
Kulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Kulusuk) is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.
History
The airstrip was built by US ...
in 1956. Due to their distance from major settlements, these were not initially used for civilian travel. In the early 1960s,
Greenlandair
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 ...
was founded, commencing civilian flights between the air bases, and helicopter and sea plane flights to large settlements. SAS operated the connection from
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ...
to Kangerlussuaq, beginning in 1954 as a fuel stop en route to United States, which was later taken over in 2000 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 ...
.
Beginning 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 ...
in 1979 and
Ilulissat Airport
Ilulissat Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Ilulissat, da, Ilulissat Lufthavn); () is a minor international airport serving Ilulissat, Greenland, the entire Disko Bay, Disko Bay Region, the Avannaa, North and Kitaa, West Greenland. It is the 59th largest ...
in 1983, several airports with short runways were built.
Airports
Many locations in Greenland have Danish names in addition to their Greenlandic names. The Danish name, where applicable, is shown in italics. Airport or heliport names shown in bold indicate the facility has scheduled passenger service on a commercial airline.
Several of the airports do not have road connection with the local major settlement, so a helicopter transfer is often needed by most passengers to some airports. Airports with a very small population reachable by road include
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 ...
,
Kulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Kulusuk) is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.
History
The airstrip was built by US ...
,
Narsarsuaq Airport
Narsarsuaq Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Narsarsuaq) is an airport located in Narsarsuaq, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Along with Kangerlussuaq Airport, it is one of two airports in Greenland capable of serving l ...
,
Nerlerit Inaat Airport
Nerlerit Inaat Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Nerlerit Inaat, da, Constable Pynt Lufthavn) is an airport in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. It is located on Jameson Land and serves the town of Ittoqqortoormiit, approximately to the ...
and
Qaarsut Airport
Qaarsut Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Qaarsut) is an airport in Qaarsut, a settlement on the Nuussuaq Peninsula in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a primary airport with a gravel runway, capable of serving STOL aircraft of Air ...
. 13 civil airports (not
Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...
) and 47 helipads in Greenland are operated by the state-owned enterprise
Greenland Airport Authority
The Greenland Airports ( kl, Mittarfeqarfiit, da, Grønlands Lufthavne) is the national airport operator of the airports in Greenland, in charge of airport upgrades and associated fees and taxes in all airports in Greenland.Naviair.
The following aerodromes also exist. They have no scheduled flights.
Not included and not open for flights anymore are the former
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
The following 47 heliports are listed under AD 4 HELIPORTS at Naviair.
The following four heliports are not listed by Naviair.
Statistics
Mittarfeqarfiit only publishes statistics summarized for Atlantic airports (Kangerlussuaq and Narsarsuaq) and for other airports (11 airports). 13 airports are included, not Thule air base.
Future
At a late 2011 Air Greenland meeting, plans to move the main Greenland intercontinental air hub away from Kangerlussuaq were agreed upon. From 2011 it has not been possible to buy new aircraft, except for very small ones, which can use the airstrips which are common in Greenland including
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 ...
. So something needs to be done before the fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 is retired in future (before 2030).
A decision was made in 2016 to extend the runways of both Nuuk airport and Ilulissat airport to , allowing them to receive medium size jetliners from Denmark. Also to replace Narsarsuaq with a new airport at
Qaqortoq
Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a city in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town and the municipal capital in southern Greenland and the ...
. Construction start of Nuuk was late 2019.
Alongside Kangerlussuaq, if airports at Qaqortoq,
Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik and Angmagssalik, is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Green ...
and
Ittoqqortoormiit
Ittoqqortoormiit ( East Greenlandic: ; West Greenlandic: ''Illoqqortoormiut'' ), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020 and has been described as one o ...
are built, the airports at
Narsarsuaq
Narsarsuaq (lit. ''Great Plan'';''Facts and History of Narsarsuaq'', Narsarsuad Tourist Information old spelling: ''Narssarssuaq'') is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. It had 123 inhabitants in 2020. There is a thr ...
,
Kulusuk
Kulusuk (old spelling: ''Qulusuk''Eastgreenland.com.Kulusuk".), formerly Kap Dan, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, located on an island of the same name. The settlement population of 241 includes many Dane ...
and Nerlerit Inaat will also be closed. The remaining airports in Greenland will keep their short size and smaller aircraft be used for them.
*
* – includes IATA codes
{{North America in topic, List of airports in
Airports in Greenland
Airports
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfac ...
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 ...
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 ...