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List of airports in Greenland
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This is a list of airports in Greenland, grouped by type and sorted by location. Air travel is extremely important in Greenland, since there are generally no roads between settlements. Arctic Umiaq Line provides passenger and freight services by sea but is limited to the southwest coast and travel time is long and departures sparse.
History
The first airports in Greenland were built by and for the United States defense. The first and largest was Kangerlussuaq Airport in 1941, followed by Narsarsuaq Airport in 1942 (and now-abandoned USAAF airfields Bluie East Two and Marrak Point, both in 1942) and Pituffik Space Base in 1953 (although Pituffik is not operated as a civilian airport) and Kulusuk Airport in 1956. Due to their distance from major settlements, these were not initially used for civilian travel. In the early 1960s, Greenlandair was founded, commencing civilian flights between the air bases, and helicopter and sea plane flights to large settlements. SAS operated the connection from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq, beginning in 1954 as a fuel stop en route to United States, which was later taken over in 2000 by Air Greenland.
Beginning with Nuuk Airport in 1979 and Ilulissat Airport in 1983, several airports with short runways were built.
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Airports
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BGAA
BGJN
BGCO
BGSF
BGKK
BGMQ
BGBW
BGGH
BGPT
BGTL
BGQQ
BGUQ
BGSS
BGUK
Location of airports. Airports in red have international flights (may be seasonal).
Many locations in Greenland have Danish names in addition to their Greenlandic names. The Danish name, where applicable, is shown in italics. Airport or heliport names shown in bold indicate the facility has scheduled passenger service on a commercial airline.
Several of the airports do not have road connection with the local major settlement, so a helicopter transfer is often needed by most passengers to some airports. Airports with a very small population reachable by road include Kangerlussuaq Airport, Kulusuk Airport, Narsarsuaq Airport, Nerlerit Inaat Airport and Qaarsut Airport. 13 civil airports (not Pituffik Space Base) and 47 helipads in Greenland are operated by the state-owned enterprise Greenland Airport Authority (Mittarfeqarfiit).
Aerodromes
The following 14 airports are listed under AD 2 AERODROMES at Naviair.[1]
The following aerodromes also exist. They have no scheduled flights.
Not included and not open for flights anymore are the former United States Army Air Forces bases of Bluie East Two and Marrak Point.
Heliports
The following 47 heliports are listed under AD 4 HELIPORTS at Naviair.[16]
The following four heliports are not listed by Naviair.
Statistics
Mittarfeqarfiit only publishes statistics summarized for Atlantic airports (Kangerlussuaq and Narsarsuaq) and for other airports (11 airports). 13 airports are included, not Pituffik Space Base. [66]
| 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic airports, passengers | 159,432 | 166,688 | 173,523 | 197,038 |
| Other airports, passengers | 193,812 | 198,921 | 200,075 | 217,173 |
| Heliports, passengers | 44,612 | 41,675 | 39,789 | 28,790 |
| Atlantic airports, takeoffs | 7,988 | 8,286 | 7,653 | 8,209 |
| Other airports, takeoffs | 15,069 | 16,007 | 16,958 | 15,691 |
| Heliports, takeoffs | 10,646 | 11,289 | 9,533 | 7,623 |
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Future
A major development in Greenlandic aviation occurred in 2016, when it was decided that three new or rebuilt airports would be built in Nuuk, Ilulissat and Qaqortoq. These airports will accommodate larger jet aircraft which can serve international destinations, at a cost of 3.6 billion DKK (approximately $560 million), primarily financed by the Danish state.[67] This will majorly improve access to Greenland's largest towns and end the use of ill-placed prior military bases as aviation hubs. Kangerlussuaq Airport will lose hub status to Nuuk Airport and Ilulissat Airport, while Narsarsuaq Airport will be replaced by Qaqortoq Airport.[68]
The first of the new airports, Nuuk Airport, was opened in 2024 and subsequently most international traffic transitioned there. The other two airports, Ilulissat and Qaqortoq are due to open in 2026.[67]
See also
References
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