Greenland sets date for new Nuuk Airport opening

A new 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 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 in length and 45 m 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 runway. Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen said the new 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.”<br/>