First Scheduled 737 MAX Flights Set for Greenland

Icelandair will operate the largest narrowbody that Greenland has seen since 2009.

An Icelandair 737 MAX (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

[ Planes ]March 3, 2024 5:33 pm ET

By Joey Gerardi

The country of Greenland currently doesn’t see any service on anything larger than turboprop aircraft outside of its hometown airline Air Greenland, but that is all about to change come July 2024 with a major aircraft upguage from Icelandair.

Air Greenland’s sole Airbus A300-800neo seconds before touching down in Kangerlussuaq (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

Icelandair is currently the only airline that serves the country at all other than Air Greenland. Currently, Icelandair operates year-round service from its Reykjavik/Keflavik hub to Nuuk and Kulusuk and also offers seasonal service to Ilulissat and Narsarsuaq. All of the service is currently operated on the De Havilland Canada Dash-8-200, mostly due to short runways around the country.

Narsarsuaq is a popular summer destination and is currently one of only two airports in the country that do see scheduled flights on jet aircraft, with the other being Kangerlussuaq. The latter is expected to be phased out as a major connecting point once the new longer runway opens in Nuuk this coming November and jet service will also likely cease too.

Icelandair had planned to operate one of its two weekly flights from Iceland to Narsarsuaq on the slightly larger Q400, but it just got a major upgrade and is now scheduled to be flown on its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Once the carrier starts its summer seasonal flight in July of 2024, the Saturday flights will be operated using a 737 MAX, while the Tuesday flights will continue to be the much smaller, Dash-8~200.

An Icelandair Boeing 737 MAX. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Although the Boeing 737-800 variant does serve the country with JetTime operating flights for Air Greenland, this will be the first time a 737 MAX will have scheduled flights in the country. This will not be the largest narrowbody aircraft to serve the country or Narsarsuaq as Air Greenland did operate its Boeing 757 in the past before selling the type in 2009. However, this will be the largest narrowbody to currently offer scheduled flights to the country.

Once the longer runway opens later this year in Nuuk, this major aircraft upgrade could be a sign of what is to come in Nuuk, not just for Icelandair but also for other carriers. Currently, the largest aircraft that can operate from the airport is the Dash-8~200.

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Joey Gerardi

Joey has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit but has a special interest in Essential Air Service Airports. He got his degree in Aviation Management and Operations from WMU in June of 2022, and is currently working full time for an airline in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Author

Joey Gerardi

Joe has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit. He’s currently enrolled at Western Michigan University earning a degree in Aviation Management and Operations.

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