Greenland’s international airport has opened its new runway bang on schedule, marking an historic moment for residents of the island’s capital and for international visitors seeking an Arctic adventure.
With just under 20,000 inhabitants, Greenland’s Nuuk is a small city on the edge of the snowy wilderness and the world’s northernmost capital. With architecture ranging from traditional earth-hewn Inuit structures to colourful Danish colonial stylings and sharp modernist design, and a fascinating history of trade and identity, it is already drawing record numbers of tourists. 140,000 visitors went to Greenland in 2023, up year-on-year by 36%, in what the country’s Minister of Business, Trade and Mineral Resources has called a “tourist boom.”
An additional $200,000 for the economy with every flight
That trend seems set to continue, aided by the advent of a 2,200-metre runway, which opened on 28 November 2024 – an infrastructure development that will allow large commercial aircraft to land at Nuuk for the first time. Until now, Greenlanders and tourists alike have had to commute via smaller aircraft (there are only 90 km of metalled roads in the whole country) to other air bases like Kangerlussuaq, built by the US during the Second World War in order to catch bigger planes and go abroad.
Now though, that extra leg of the journey will become obsolete as Air Greenland makes Nuuk its base and begins operating Airbus A330neo flights to Copenhagen, Denmark and Reykjavik, Iceland.
Giving Nuuk a handling capacity of 800 passengers an hour, the airport’s transformation is predicted to bring an additional $200,000 into the Greenlandic economy with every single flight, says Jens Lauridsen, chief executive of Greenland Airports, as well as giving visitors a unique experience. “We’re located in the Arctic,” he told CNN, adding that people are “in for an adventure when you come here.”
“The end of an era”
It is a sentiment echoed by Anne Nivíka Grødem, CEO of Visit Greenland, who said the country is not “just a destination; it’s an experience that changes how you see the world.” She recommends visitors “come with an open mind and a spirit of adventure. The country’s quiet, reflective culture offers a chance to reconnect with nature and yourself.”
Meanwhile, Greenland’s best-known blogger, Qupanuk Olsen, called the inauguration of Nuuk’s new runway “the end of an era”, noting that nearly every Greenlandic citizen has spent hours at Kangerlussuaq Airport, which will no longer be such an important hub. But, it’s not the end of the runway for Kangerlussuaq, Olsen noted, declaring that the city would be able to become more of an attraction in its own right: “transitioning from an airport hub, to a destination!”
