The world's newest international airport opens on the least densely populated nation on the planet

It’s going to be a big day in the remote capital of Greenland on November 28 when Air Greenland’s flagship Airbus A330-800neo lands from Copenhagen, Denmark at Nuuk International Airport. It will be the first direct flight between the two capitals and the start of an aviation revolution on the world’s largest island. After Nuuk, two more airports are being opened by the end of 2026, part of an $800m investment in infrastructure on the least densely populated nation on the planet. With 57,000 people, it is roughly the same size as Whangārei city. Previously anyone wanting to visit Nuuk had to land 319km north at the former military airport of Kangerlussuaq, and then take a smaller connecting flight to the capital. Kangerlussuaq is so small that each flight nearly doubles the population of the tiny outpost. Jacob Nitter Sorensen, CE of national carrier Air Greenland, said the new airport is a “game changer”. “It’s going to shorten the travel time, and it's going to decrease the cost of producing the flight.” Construction of the new 2200m-long runway at Nuuk started in 2020 and more than 6m cubic metres of rock has been removed. Other airlines are onboard with the new airport. Next year, United Airlines will begin flying from New York, and SAS will offer direct flights between Copenhagen and Nuuk during the peak summer season. Icelandair will also operate larger aircraft from Reykjavik.<br/>