Denmark Revokes Nuuk Airport’s Security Authorization

Nuuk Airport, located in Greenland’s capital city, is supposed to be opening to the world in a few months with a larger terminal, longer runway, and a new instrument landing system. The airport hoped to offer its first-ever flights from the airport using anything larger than a Dash-8 aircraft at the end of November 2024. Unfortunately, the plan has hit a major snag.

According to Nunatsiaq News, a media outlet located in Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut, Denmark revoked Nuuk’s security authorization on August 14. This means, while the city can accept flights from international destinations, they cannot depart from the city.

Currently, Nuuk sees flights to two international destinations: Reykjavik in Iceland which is flown by Icelandair and Air Greenland, along with Iqaluit in Canada which just Air Greenland serves. For the first couple of days, most of the flights leaving Greenland from Nuuk were cancelled, but airlines did start adding tech stops to the flights, which significantly increased the total travel time.

For the flights to Reykjavik in Iceland, Icelandair has been routing the flights with a tech stop in Kulusuk where passengers clear security before continuing onto Iceland. Kulusuk is located on Greenland’s Eastern shore and is a destination Icelandair already serves for part of the year.

Air Greenland’s flights from Nuuk to Iceland have been routed through either Kulusuk like Icelandair’s, or the airline’s main international airport in Kangerlussuaq. The latter city already houses the airline’s main route to Copenhagen on its flagship A330-800neo.

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

For the flights stopping in Kangerlussuaq on the way to Iceland, the aircraft flies an hour north from the capital of Nuuk, then stops for an hour so people can clear security. After that hour-long stop, it then continues onto Iceland. Going north to Kangerlussuaq and then to Iceland adds two extra hours to the journey that should last only about three hours as a nonstop flight.

Air Greenland’s flights to Iqaluit in northern Canada make a stop in Kangerlussuaq, adding two hours or so to this journey which should be a nonstop flight that lasts just under two hours.

The issues were originally supposed to be fixed on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, but three weeks later, flights leaving the country are still being routed through either Kulusuk or Kangerlussuaq. Just two days ago on Sept. 1, 2024, Air Greenland’s flight to Reykjavik in Iceland stopped in Kangerlussuaq, and according to FlightRadar24, the flight to Iqaluit on Sept. 4, 2024 is also scheduled to make a stop in Kangerlussuaq.

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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. 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. He specializes in topics surrounding the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. He graduated from WMU with a degree in Aviation Management and Operations in 2022 and now works for a major airline.

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