Narsarsuaq Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Narsarsuaq) is an airport located in

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 thri ...

, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern

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 ...

. Along with Kangerlussuaq Airport, it is one of two airports in Greenland capable of serving large

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 ai ...

s. It is also the only

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 r ...

in southern Greenland. The settlement it serves is small, with the airport primarily functioning as a transfer point for passengers heading for the

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

hubs of

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 ch ...

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 ...

and Nanortalik. The airport is to be closed in 2025 when Qaqortoq Airport is scheduled to open.

History

World War II

The airfield at Narsarsuaq was first built by the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

(now the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

) as an army airbase, its construction beginning in July 1941warbirdforum.com
/ref> and the first aircraft landing in January 1942. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the airbase−codenamed ''

Bluie West One Bluie West One, later known as Narsarsuaq Air Base and Narsarsuaq Airport, was built on a glacial moraine at what is now the village of Narsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland. Construction by the United States Army began in June 1941. Th ...

''−hosted squadrons of

PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

flying boats and

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

bombers with the assignment to escort allied convoys and track and destroy German

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s. A military hospital with 250 beds was completed in 1943. Approximately 4,000 people were stationed at the base during the war. It is estimated that during that time more than 10,000 aircraft were ferried through the airbase. On 6 July 1942 the supply ship SS ''Montrose'' was wrecked on a cliff in the Tunulliarfik Fjord southwest of the airbase.warbirdforum.com
/ref> The first aircraft from the

Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...

stationed at Narsarsuaq was a PBY Catalina in 1947 and a

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

in 1948.

After the war

Civil air traffic began in 1949 with

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

propliners operated by

Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

(SAS) and

Icelandair Icelandair is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, with its corporate head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in the capital city Reykjavik. Linked from here It is part of the Icelandair Group and operates to destinations on both si ...

. US and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

signed ''The Agreement related to the defense of Greenland'' on 27 April 1951, with both countries agreeing to share the Bluie West One airbase. In 1952, the Danish Air Force stationed ''Airgroup West'' with a PBY Catalina at the airport. The

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

left

Bluie Bluie was the United States military code name for Greenland during World War II. It is remembered by the numbered sequence of base locations identified by the 1941 United States Coast Guard South Greenland Survey Expedition, and subsequently us ...

West One in November 1958, and the airbase was closed. In January 1959, M/S ''Hans Hedtoft'' of Denmark and all on board were lost near the southern tip of Greenland. The Danish Authorities decided to reopen the airport soon after. From November 1959, the Danish Air Force had three PBY Catalinas stationed at Narsarsuaq with the assignment to make ice-observations along the coast of Greenland, and these observations were broadcast to ships in the area. In the 1960s and 1970s,

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 ...

and SAS both served Narsarsuaq with

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...

proplinersAir Greenland, 50th anniversary website
while Icelandair operated

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

jets. During the 1980s, SAS operated

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...

jets at Narsarsuaq. Since 1 January 1988, the airport has been operated by

Mittarfeqarfiit 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.AS350 Eurocopter aircraft.

Decline

The airport served as a regional focus city for Air Greenland until the late 2000s, when tough economic conditions forced the airline to raise the low season prices several times. In 2009 the airline announced the sale of ''Kunuunnguaq'', a

Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the Boeing 727, 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. ...

, one of two airliners in the fleet, serving the Narsarsuaq-Copenhagen route. Later the same year, the airline announced the acquisition of two new

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

aircraft, being de Havilland Canada Dash-8 200 turboprops, one of which would serve the newly opened triangular route between Narsarsuaq,

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

, and Reykjavík-Keflavík. The new route was closed before the first flights could commence, adding to resentment amongst businesses and the community of South Greenland. The declared demand for the direct connection with Iceland was not reflected in ticket sales numbers, which contributed to the pullout decision. With the Boeing airliner sold on 26 April 2010, the entire Kujalleq municipality, and southern Greenland in general remains without prospects for a direct connection to continental Europe. The financial crisis of 2008–2010, the

air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulti ...

both contributed to lower passenger demand, while competition from

Air Iceland The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

on the route to Iceland rendered the prospected Air Greenland route to faraway Denmark unprofitable, leading directly to the decline in traffic in southern Greenland. Re-establishment of a direct route to continental Europe was unlikely to happen in 2011. In 2012 flights to/from Copenhagen started in the summer by chartering a separate operator.

Future

The new airport in Qaqortoq is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2025. This eliminates the need for Narsarsuaq as a domestic and Iceland-bound gateway to South Greenland. In 2022 the Greenlandic government decided that Narsarsuaq will be downscaled to a heliport, losing the runway.

General aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, historic planes and ferry flights crossing the

North Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

must use alternative airports for refuelling.

village will remain inhabited, though the loss of the airport function is already having its toll. The first Greenland Air Trophy took place at Narsarsuaq Airport, 30 June 2019. The winning pilot was Rene Petersen of Greenland, second and third places both taken by French pilots.

Facilities

In the terminal there is a simple cafeteria, a

duty-free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...

'Nanoq' shop, as well as a small tourist office, which helps coordinate

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

activities at the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

*On 13 May 1957, a DC-4 freight aircraft operated by US Overseas Airlines hit the icecap on approach to Narsarsuaq. Two were killed, of three on board. *On 5 August 2001, Dassault Falcon 20C freight aircraft of Naske Air crashed on approach to Narsarsuaq. It planned a fuel stop, going from Poland to the US. Three people were killed, including a passenger.

Ground transport

Transfers to local settlements are normally done by boat or helicopter flights.

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 ...

sells tickets to boats to

Narsaq Narsaq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name ''Narsaq'' is Kalaallisut for "Plain", referring to the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located. History People have lived in the area for thousands of ...

and

Qaqortoq Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a city in the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, 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 ...

. Boats require a bus transfer since the port is around 2.5 km (1.5 mi) from the terminal.The distance is seen on images such as Google Maps. The operato
Blue Ice
mentions a car, but it's more likely a minibus because of the boat size.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Airports in Greenland