United on Saturday launched a nonstop seasonal route connecting the U.S. and Greenland for the first time in almost 20 years.
The inaugural flight, which used a Boeing 737 MAX 8, departed Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey Saturday morning and reached Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, about four hours later. A flight from Nuuk back to Newark took place Sunday morning.
Touchdown. United Airlines UA80.
EWR – GOH.
Nuuk, Greenland ??June 15, 2025 (6.33pm)
Temp: + 4°C. pic.twitter.com/Kt336qdKmR— Orla Joelsen (@OJoelsen) June 14, 2025
The service will operate twice weekly through Sept. 24. It is the first flight connecting the U.S. and Greenland since 2008, when Air Greenland discontinued a route between Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Kangerlussuaq Airport, which is located about 195 miles north of Nuuk.
Before last weekend, the only way for U.S. travelers to reach Greenland by air was to fly first to Copenhagen, Denmark, then catch another flight heading west to the island.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Nuuk Airport was recently rebuilt and expanded in an effort to promote tourism. The island’s government is looking to draw in more visitors from North America and Europe to reduce the economy’s dependence on Danish subsidies and the local fishing industry, which accounts for about 90% of Greenland’s exports.
United first announced the Newark-Nuuk service in October, alongside new routes to Palermo, Italy; Bilbao, Spain; and Faro and Madeira Island in Portugal.
