BBC
Currently, only small planes can take off and land at Nuuk Airport.
A new international airport will soon open in Greenland's capital Nuuk, allowing larger planes to land for the first time, paving the way for direct flights from the United States and Europe.
It's the first of three airport projects that officials hope will boost the local economy by making the Arctic territory more accessible than ever.
Covered by an ice cap and sparsely populated, Greenland is a vast autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Its capital Nuuk, on the southwest coast, is a small town of 18,000 inhabitants. Modern apartment buildings and colorful wooden cottages overlook a vast sea fjord.
Sitting on a hill above the town, small 35-seat propeller planes take off and land from a paved airstrip. Currently, anyone wishing to travel abroad must first take one of these planes 319 km north to a remote former military airport in Kangerlussuaq, then change to a larger plane.
Built by the Americans during World War II, Kangerlussuaq is currently one of only two airstrips in Greenland long enough to accommodate large jets. The other is Narsarsuaq, in the far south of the country, and it was also a former American military base.
But from the end of November, large planes will be able to land at Nuuk for the first time, thanks to a new, longer runway and a sleek new terminal.
Greenland has many attractions to interest tourists
“I think it will have a big impact,” says Jens Lauridsen, managing director of operator Greenland Airports. “I’m sure we’ll see a lot of tourism and a lot of change.”
During my visit, diggers are moving piles of rubble along the edge of the extended runway and finishes are being applied to the new terminal.
From November 28, direct flights to Nuuk will operate from Copenhagen, carrying more than 300 passengers. And next summer, United Airlines will begin flying to New York, making Nuuk the main travel hub in Greenland.
“We have been closed to the world and now we are going to open up to the world,” says a young resident of Nuuk. “It’s so exciting that we have the opportunity to travel from here to another country.”
In 2026, a second international airport will open in Greenland's most popular tourist destination, the town of Ilulissat, 350 miles north of Nuuk. Ilulissat is famous for the huge icebergs that float off its coast. A new regional airport, in Qaqartoq, the largest city in southern Greenland, will then follow.
Another young Greenlander from Nuuk, Isak Finn, says he is sure to have to change his plans in Kangerlussuaq. “It takes a lot of time. You have to wait, and if there's bad weather or there aren't enough planes, you get stuck there. It's so boring.
Jacob Nitter Sorensen, chief executive of national airline Air Greenland, says the new Nuuk International Airport “is going to be a game changer for us”. “This will shorten the travel time and reduce the cost of producing the flight.
Ticket prices are already lower, he says, and as demand increases the airline hopes to add new European and North American routes and potentially invest in new planes. But strong competition is expected as larger international airlines enter the market.
“A flight from Europe to Nuuk takes just over four hours,” explains Jens Lauridsen. “From the East Coast of the United States, it also takes four hours. So we are placed right in the middle. There is very, very high interest from all the major European carriers. »
To make way for the longer runway at Nuuk International Airport, six million cubic meters of rock were blasted and leveled. The airport is also now equipped with cutting-edge technology that allows planes to land in the city's notoriously poor weather conditions.
The cold and short summer season posed a challenge for the construction work. As the cost of obtaining explosives skyrocketed, war broke out in Ukraine.
The three airports together cost more than $800 million (£615 million). This was partly financed by the Danes, who stepped in with an enhanced loan program after interest from Chinese investors.
“There were questions about whether this type of investment should be in the hands of the Chinese,” says Javier Arnaut, director of Arctic social sciences at the University of Greenland. “Denmark offered more affordable and attractive rates for these loans.”
Air Greenland boss Jacob Nitter Sorensen describes new Nuuk airport as a 'game changer'
Initially, there was public skepticism about the costs and environmental impact, says Arnaut, but today there is mostly support. However, not everyone likes noisy planes.
“With big infrastructure it always divides people,” Nuuk resident Karen Motzfeldt told the BBC. “There is always a group that is against it, and always a group that likes it. So it's the same in Nuuk.
“It’s an airport for a modern Greenland,” she adds. “I’m looking forward to a shorter route to Copenhagen, Iceland, or maybe London Heathrow, who knows?”
Greenland's economy depends largely on the public sector and fishing, and most goods must be imported, but there are efforts to diversify. Politicians hope this new infrastructure will be a boost for sectors like mining and tourism.
“In all these cases, infrastructure is essential. It makes everything easier,” says Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s Minister of Trade, Commerce and Mineral Resources, adding that ease of travel will also help the government develop bilateral relations.
With larger cargo planes soon able to land in Nuuk, more goods can come in and exports can more easily go out.
In a factory located on the edge of the capital's port, a huge quantity of shrimp is steamed, peeled and frozen. For its owner, Greenlandic company Polar Seafoods, which sells shrimp, crab and halibut, shorter, direct flights offer new business opportunities.
“We are looking at producing more fresh seafood,” says president Michael Binzer.
Currently, their products are exported in frozen form by container ships, destined for markets such as China, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. But the company is testing air cargo before the new airport opens.
But it is tourism which will be the big winner. Foreign visitors came to Greenland in record numbers last year, up 36.5% from 2022 to more than 140,000. That's still modest, but with more flight options, it figure is expected to increase.
“We are already in a tourism boom and we feel how tourism can have a positive, but also a negative impact,” says Ms Nathanielsen, who is overseeing a new tourism law that will be introduced this autumn.
“We really want to try to accommodate tourists in the big cities, but we also want to spread them out more. »
Extensive excavation work was carried out to extend the Nuuk Airport runway
In Nuuk, many tourism businesses are eagerly preparing. “Everyone is very excited about how this is going to happen,” says Maren-Louise Paulsen Kristensen, co-owner and manager of Inuk Hostel.
The company has invested in new glass igloos to attract tourists all year round.
Elsewhere, new hotel projects are slowly emerging, but a housing shortage could further hamper tourism development efforts. Ms Kristensen says Nuuk needs more rooms, local guides and workers.
But she also worries that Greenland could “grow tourism too quickly…like happened in Iceland, so I think we have a lot to learn from them.”
Business Minister Naaja Nathanielsen says the new airports will have a “profound” impact on local society. “I feel like this is really going to change the map of Greenland.
“It will bring a lot of good, but also changes that we will probably have to adapt to.”
