Touchdown in Nuuk: Greenland’s first international airport is open for global travellers

Greenland is opening a new international airport in the capital Nuuk as it expects to double the number of tourists arriving by air over the next year.

The 2.2-kilometer (1.4-mile) runway was approved late Wednesday after a series of test flights, paving the way for the airport to formally open on Thursday, the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority said on its website.

The airport — the first international gateway into the Greenland capital — is seen as a game changer for local tourism, allowing larger planes to land in the Arctic country. Starting in June 2025, United Airlines Holdings Inc. will open a direct route from Newark, New York to Nuuk, while SAS AB and Icelandair Group hf have announced flights from Copenhagen and Iceland’s biggest airport Keflavik, among other places. Previously, international flights landed further north, in the secluded town of Kangerlussuaq.

Passenger traffic is expected to double to over 100,000 from more than 50,000 annually in the first year, Greenland Airport’s Chief Executive Officer Jens Lauridsen told Danish media Finans. In 2023, just under 65,000 tourists arrived to Greenland by air, with about 5,000 of them flying through the capital’s existing small, domestic airport, according to Visit Greenland.