Air Greenland
Encyclopedia
Air Greenland A/S
is the flag carrier
airline
of Greenland
, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group
, and the government of Denmark
. It operates a fleet of 38 aircraft, including one airliner used for transatlantic
and charter flights, 10 fixed-wing aircraft
primarily serving the domestic network, and 26 helicopter
s feeding passengers from the smaller communities into the domestic airport
network. Flights to heliport
s in the remote settlements are operated on contract with the government of Greenland.
Founded in 1960, the airline started its first services with PBY Catalina
water planes, later in the same decade expanding its fleet to include DHC-3 Otter
light planes and Sikorsky S-61
helicopters, some of which remain in active service. During the late 1960s and 1970s the majority of aircraft operations in Greenland were based on helicopters. Only in the late 1970s and early 1980s the newly established Greenland Home Rule invested in a network of short takeoff and landing airports, serviced by the new additions to the Air Greenland fleet: the De Havilland Canada Dash-7
turboprop
s uniquely suited to the harsh terrain and weather conditions in Greenland. The reliability of connections improved as the domestic airport network expanded in the 1990s: the airline was less reliant on weather, with the Dash-7 planes covering the majority of towns in the country. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Air Greenland acquired two airliners, a Boeing 757
and an Airbus A330, opening its first connections to Copenhagen
. By 2003, Air Greenland was the only airline providing scheduled services to Denmark.
Besides scheduled services and contractual flights to most villages in the country, the airline operations diversified into specialized charter services for the booming energy and mineral resource industries, as well as the increasing tourism industry in Greenland. Other services involve ambulance flights, supplies to remote research stations, and rescue flights. Air Greenland has two subsidiaries, a travel agency
offering flights to tourist destinations such as the inner parts of the Ilulissat Icefjord
, and Arctic Umiaq Line
, a passenger and cargo ferry
, serving coastal communities of western and southern Greenland, and supplementing the airport network.
(then known as Scandinavian Airlines System) and by Kryolitselskabet Øresund, a Danish mining company with operations in the former settlement of Ivittuut
. In 1962, the ownership of the airline was extended to the then provincial government of Greenland and to Royal Arctic Line
, then known as Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel.
The first flights serving the American bases in Greenland were operated with the lightweight DHC-3 Otters
, and the Sikorsky S-55 helicopters chartered from Canada. From 1962 onwards Greenlandair used PBY Catalina
water planes and DHC-6 Twin Otter
s on domestic routes. In 1965, the Douglas DC-4
became the first larger aircraft used by Greenlandair, followed by Sikorsky S-61
helicopters. The latter have remained in use since then, as of 2010 serving the communities in the Kujalleq
municipality in southern Greenland year-round, and the towns and villages of Disko Bay
during winter.
, then known as Amassalik. Later the airline also operated the Douglas DC-6
aircraft, an upgrade of the older DC-4 model.
Commercial mining at the Maamorilik
site on the mainland northeast of the Ukkusissat
settlement in the inner regions of Uummannaq Fjord
spurned further investment in the helicopter fleet, with the new Bell 206
machines. After its closure in 1990, the mine was inoperational for two decades. It is due to reopen in November 2010, with zinc
and iron ore reserves expected to last for 50 years. As in the 1970s, the supply flights to the mine are operated by Air Greenland, using the newer Bell 212 helicopter based at Uummannaq Heliport
.
In the past the airline attempted to expand the destination network several times. The first international route of Air Greenland was opened in 1979, between Nuuk and Iqaluit in Nunavut
, Canada
. It was closed 13 years later. By the end of the 1970s, the number of passengers served annually by Greenlandair increased to 60,000, which is more than the total population of Greenland.
(STOL) capable airports built in Nuuk, Ilulissat
, and Kulusuk
. In order to service the enlarged network, Greenlandair acquired De Havilland Canada Dash-7
s, planes particularly suited to the often severe weather conditions in Greenland. The first Dash-7 was delivered on 29 September 1979, with more machines following during the following decade.
Several of the airports built in the 1980s still have no deicing equipment at the airport, which is problematic in Greenlandic winter, causing losses for the airline. The Dash-7 machines remain in active service in Greenland, serving all airports with the exception of Nerlerit Inaat Airport
near Ittoqqortoormiit
, the operation of which is handed to Air Iceland
on contract with the government of Greenland.
In 1981, the airline opened its first route to Iceland
, linking the main hub at Kangerlussuaq Airport
with Reykjavík Airport
via Kulusuk Airport. Towards the end of the decade the number of employees rose to 400, with the number of passengers served exceeding 100,000 annually for the first time.
. Continuing with the tradition of giving personal names to its aircraft, the airline named the airliner
Kunuunnguaq, in honor of the Greenlandic explorer and ethnologist, Knud Rasmussen, whose bust
decorates in the terminal of Kangerlussuaq Airport, the main hub of the airline.
With that purchase the airline planned to break the SAS monopoly on the profitable Kangerlussuaq–Copenhagen route, with operations beginning immediately after the purchase of the 757. The network of regional airports was extended during the decade, with several new STOL airports constructed: Sisimiut Airport
, Maniitsoq Airport
, and Aasiaat Airport
in western Greenland; Qaarsut Airport
and Upernavik Airport
in northwestern Greenland.
Having acquired its fifth Dash-7, Greenlandair was, for the first time since its inception, able to provide plane services to all major towns in Greenland; Uummannaq
town is served by Qaarsut Airport in conjunction with Uummannaq Heliport. In 1999, the airline served 282,000 passengers, nearly three times as many as by the end of the previous decade.
SAS abandoned to route to Copenhagen in 2003, leaving Air Greenland as the only carrier linking Greenland with mainland Europe. The airline was able to fill in the gap in service with the newly acquired Airbus A330-200, nicknamed Norsaq, the second airliner in the fleet of the airline. SAS briefly revived the service in 2007 dropping it again in January 2009.
In 2003, Air Greenland won the U.S. Air Force contract for flights to Thule Air Base (previously held by SAS) with flights starting in February 2004. The contract was renewed for a five-year period in 2008.
The first takeover of another airline took place on 28 July 2006: Air Greenland acquired Air Alpha Greenland
, a subsidiary of Air Alpha, an aircraft company based in Odense
, Denmark. The acquired company operated helicopter flights in the Disko Bay region, and in eastern Greenland. Since the takeover, the Bell 222
helicopters are still used by Air Greenland for passenger transfers between Nerlerit Inaat Airport and Ittoqqortoormiit Heliport
.
The SAS Group announced their intention to sell their shares in Air Greenland on 13 June 2007, a move later incorporated in the Core SAS restructuring program of the group. As of 2010 the airline has not executed on its decision.
On 1 October 2007 the airline introduced the e-ticket
booking system. The service to Baltimore, Maryland
, in the United States
was opened in the summer of 2007, but due to poor ticket sales it was closed in March 2008. Reopening of the connection to Iqaluit was considered by Air Greenland in late 2009, but was later postponed until at least 2011. In 2009 the airline carried 399,000 passengers. In 2009, the length of the scheduled service network was 14235 km (8,845.2 mi), with the cabin factor (revenue passengers-kilometres expressed as percentage of available seat-kilometres) averaging 79.3%.
frequent-flyer program of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).
In 2011, nonstop service from Narsarsuaq to Copenhagen will no longer be available.
In order to compete with Air Iceland
, which operates service from Reykjavik airport (not Reykjavik-Keflavik) to Nuuk, Narsarsuaq, Ilulissat
, and all Greenlandic major airports on the eastern coast, Air Greenland for 2011 may fly a nonstop Nuuk, Greenland to Keflavík International Airport
, Iceland route.
s capable of serving large airliners—Kangerlussuaq Airport
and Narsarsuaq Airport—were formerly used as U.S. Air Force military bases, and have been used for transatlantic flights.
All other regional airports are STOL-capable, and are served with Dash-7 and Dash-8 fixed-wing aircraft. Outside Greenland, the airline operates transatlantic flights to Keflavík International Airport in Iceland, and to Copenhagen Airport
in Denmark.
Smaller communities are served by settlement flights from the local helicopter hubs in Upernavik Airport in the Upernavik Archipelago
in northwestern Greenland, in Uummannaq Heliport in the Uummannaq Fjord region in northwestern Greenland, in Ilulissat Airport and Aasiaat Airport in the Disko Bay region in western Greenland, in Qaqortoq Heliport
and Nanortalik Heliport
in southern Greenland, and in Tasiilaq Heliport
in southeastern Greenland. Out of 45 heliports served, 8 are primary, equipped with solid-surface helipad
s, a terminal building, and permanent staff. The remaining heliports are helistops, with either a gravel or a grass landing area.
; furthermore, many of the Dash 7s are endowed with names, such as Papikkaaq (Big Tail), Nipiki (Silent), Minniki (Short Lander) and Sapangaq (Pearl). The reliability of this plane design has been successfully demonstrated in the difficult weather conditions in Greenland; however, the four-engine machines, acquired in the 1980s, require frequent repairs, generating high maintenance costs. In 2010 the airline acquired its first de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q200, followed by another before the start of the summer season. The newer, two-engine Dash 8 Q200 is to become the primary aircraft of the airline in the future.
there are no outstanding plane or helicopter orders, with the airline operating the following aircraft:
are the largest shareholders of the airline, owning a 37.5% stake each. The government of Denmark
owns the remaining 25% of the stock. The board of directors, chaired by Julia Pars of the government of Greenland, includes representatives of all shareholders, and of the airline employees. Michael Binzer, previously heading the airline's marketing and sales department, has been holding the position of chief executive officer
since June 2007.
Headquartered in Nuuk, the airline had 668 employees in December 2009. The airline's technical base is located at Nuuk Airport
.
The helicopters, primarily the AS350, are used for special flights, such as search and rescue, air ambulance, charter flights to the Thule Air Base
on contract with the U.S. Air Force
, geological exploration, and supply flights to the mining sites, and to the research stations on the Greenland ice sheet
. During the peak summer season, the helicopter crew is supplemented by freelance
pilots from Norway
and Sweden
.
Other charter flights include heliskiing
shuttles, services for the developing energy industry involving comprehensive surveys of the optimal location of planned power plants such as the Sisimiut Hydro Power Plant
and the aluminium smelting
plant in the Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord
region, and environmental research: counting polar bear
s and tracking other large Arctic
fauna
.
, the airport authority in Greenland. The ministry exerts influence on the decisions made by the either partially or wholly state-owned companies, including airport taxes, the pricing policy of Air Greenland, the network of maritime connections supplementing the network of airports and heliports, and the tourism development strategy for Greenland.
in the north and Narsaq
in the south—to the larger towns covered by the Air Greenland airport network.
The ferry entered a turbulent period in the late 2000s. Annual state subsidies from the government of Greenland amounted to 5 million Danish krone
(DKK), while allegations of mismanagement of resources and the contested decision to sell one of two of the ships in the fleet contributed to the threat of bankruptcy before the end of 2010. On 16 March 2010, Air Greenland announced plans to divest its stock. This announcement of the airline makes it likely that the forecast bankruptcy may still take place in 2010; the operations are guaranteed only until the end of the year.
based in Copenhagen.
—is offered on the transatlantic flights operated with the Airbus A330-200, nicknamed Norsaq. The service includes a personal video screen, an in-seat power source, an amenity kit, blankets and a selection of newspapers. Passengers travelling on this class are eligible to use the Novia Business Class Lounge at Copenhagen Airport.
Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day. Settlement flights in the Disko Bay region are unique in that they are operated only during winter and spring. During summer and autumn, communication between settlements is by sea only, also on a governmental contract, with services operated by Diskoline
, a passenger and freight ferry
based in Ilulissat.
Aktieselskab
An aktieselskab is the Danish name for a stock-based corporation. An aktieselskab can be both publicly traded and private.-Liability:...
is the flag carrier
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group
SAS Group
Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag , trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground...
, and the government of Denmark
Government of Denmark
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a unicameral parliamentary system. The affairs of Government are decided by a Cabinet of Ministers, which is led by a Prime Minister...
. It operates a fleet of 38 aircraft, including one airliner used for transatlantic
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
and charter flights, 10 fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
primarily serving the domestic network, and 26 helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s feeding passengers from the smaller communities into the domestic airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
network. Flights to heliport
Heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...
s in the remote settlements are operated on contract with the government of Greenland.
Founded in 1960, the airline started its first services with PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
water planes, later in the same decade expanding its fleet to include DHC-3 Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger aircraft.-Design and...
light planes and Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...
helicopters, some of which remain in active service. During the late 1960s and 1970s the majority of aircraft operations in Greenland were based on helicopters. Only in the late 1970s and early 1980s the newly established Greenland Home Rule invested in a network of short takeoff and landing airports, serviced by the new additions to the Air Greenland fleet: the De Havilland Canada Dash-7
De Havilland Canada Dash 7
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier...
turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
s uniquely suited to the harsh terrain and weather conditions in Greenland. The reliability of connections improved as the domestic airport network expanded in the 1990s: the airline was less reliant on weather, with the Dash-7 planes covering the majority of towns in the country. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Air Greenland acquired two airliners, a Boeing 757
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...
and an Airbus A330, opening its first connections to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. By 2003, Air Greenland was the only airline providing scheduled services to Denmark.
Besides scheduled services and contractual flights to most villages in the country, the airline operations diversified into specialized charter services for the booming energy and mineral resource industries, as well as the increasing tourism industry in Greenland. Other services involve ambulance flights, supplies to remote research stations, and rescue flights. Air Greenland has two subsidiaries, a travel agency
Travel agency
A travel agency is a retail business that sells travel related products and services to customers on behalf of suppliers such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays that combine several products...
offering flights to tourist destinations such as the inner parts of the Ilulissat Icefjord
Ilulissat Icefjord
Ilulissat Icefjord is a fjord in western Greenland. Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.- Geography :It runs west from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay just south of Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier , the most productive...
, and Arctic Umiaq Line
Arctic Umiaq Line
Arctic Umiaq Line A/S or Arctic Umiaq is a passenger and freight line in Greenland. Its name derives from the Greenlandic word for a traditional Inuit boat, the umiaq. The sea connection provided by Arctic Umiaq is a lifeline for the entire western and southwestern Greenland...
, a passenger and cargo ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
, serving coastal communities of western and southern Greenland, and supplementing the airport network.
1960s
The airline was established on 7 November 1960 as Greenlandair, founded by SAS GroupSAS Group
Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag , trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground...
(then known as Scandinavian Airlines System) and by Kryolitselskabet Øresund, a Danish mining company with operations in the former settlement of Ivittuut
Ivittuut
Ivittuut, was a municipality , located on the coast of Arsuk fjord in southern Greenland. With an area of just 100 km² , it was the smallest municipality of Greenland, bordering on the former Narsaq municipality in the north, east, and south, and on the west by the Labrador Sea...
. In 1962, the ownership of the airline was extended to the then provincial government of Greenland and to Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line A/S or Royal Arctic is a freight company in Greenland, formed in 1992 and headquartered in Nuuk. It has 650 employees and is owned by the Government of Greenland...
, then known as Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel.
The first flights serving the American bases in Greenland were operated with the lightweight DHC-3 Otters
De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger aircraft.-Design and...
, and the Sikorsky S-55 helicopters chartered from Canada. From 1962 onwards Greenlandair used PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
water planes and DHC-6 Twin Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
s on domestic routes. In 1965, the Douglas DC-4
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
became the first larger aircraft used by Greenlandair, followed by Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:...
helicopters. The latter have remained in use since then, as of 2010 serving the communities in the Kujalleq
Kujalleq
Kujalleq is a new municipality in the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. With 7,589 inhabitants as of January 2010, it is the least-populated municipality in Greenland. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq...
municipality in southern Greenland year-round, and the towns and villages of Disko Bay
Disko Bay
Disko Bay is a bay on the western coast of Greenland. The bay constitutes a wide southeastern inlet of Baffin Bay.- Geography :To the south the coastline is complicated with multiple waterways of skerries and small islands in the Aasiaat archipelago...
during winter.
1970s
During the 1970s, Greenlandair invested in a helicopter fleet expansion, increasing the number of Sikorsky S-61 machines from three to eight, which in 1972 allowed the airline to extend its network to the communities in eastern Greenland, with one helicopter based in TasiilaqTasiilaq
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...
, then known as Amassalik. Later the airline also operated the Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
aircraft, an upgrade of the older DC-4 model.
Commercial mining at the Maamorilik
Maamorilik
Maamorilik is a mining site in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland...
site on the mainland northeast of the Ukkusissat
Ukkusissat
Ukkusissat is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality, in northwestern Greenland. The population of the settlement was 170 in 2010.- Geography :...
settlement in the inner regions of Uummannaq Fjord
Uummannaq Fjord
Uummannaq Fjord is a large fjord system in the northern part of western Greenland, the largest after Kangertittivaq fjord in eastern Greenland...
spurned further investment in the helicopter fleet, with the new Bell 206
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...
machines. After its closure in 1990, the mine was inoperational for two decades. It is due to reopen in November 2010, with zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and iron ore reserves expected to last for 50 years. As in the 1970s, the supply flights to the mine are operated by Air Greenland, using the newer Bell 212 helicopter based at Uummannaq Heliport
Uummannaq Heliport
Uummannaq Heliport is a heliport in Uummannaq, a town located on Uummannaq Island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. There are no facilities in the heliport.-Airlines and destinations:...
.
In the past the airline attempted to expand the destination network several times. The first international route of Air Greenland was opened in 1979, between Nuuk and Iqaluit in Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was closed 13 years later. By the end of the 1970s, the number of passengers served annually by Greenlandair increased to 60,000, which is more than the total population of Greenland.
1980s
In the early 1980s, the newly established Greenland Home Rule decided to invest in the regional network of airports, with short take-off and landingSTOL
STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...
(STOL) capable airports built in Nuuk, Ilulissat
Ilulissat Airport
Ilulissat Airport is an airport located near the shores of Disko Bay, north-east of Ilulissat, a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland. It was built in 1983, replacing the old heliport.- Airlines and destinations :...
, and Kulusuk
Kulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :- Bottlenecks :...
. In order to service the enlarged network, Greenlandair acquired De Havilland Canada Dash-7
De Havilland Canada Dash 7
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier...
s, planes particularly suited to the often severe weather conditions in Greenland. The first Dash-7 was delivered on 29 September 1979, with more machines following during the following decade.
Several of the airports built in the 1980s still have no deicing equipment at the airport, which is problematic in Greenlandic winter, causing losses for the airline. The Dash-7 machines remain in active service in Greenland, serving all airports with the exception of Nerlerit Inaat Airport
Nerlerit Inaat Airport
Nerlerit Inaat Airport is an airport in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. It is located on Jameson Land and serves the town of Ittoqqortoormiit, approximately to the south-east. The airport can serve STOL aircraft. A Bell 222 helicopter of Air Greenland is permanently housed at...
near Ittoqqortoormiit
Ittoqqortoormiit
Ittoqqortoormiit is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population is 469 as of 2010.The Danish name Scoresbysund derives from the name of the Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby, who was the first to map the area in 1822. The Greenlandic name...
, the operation of which is handed to Air Iceland
Air Iceland
Air Iceland is a regional airline with its head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operates scheduled services to domestic destinations and to Greenland. Its main bases are Reykjavík Airport and Akureyri Airport...
on contract with the government of Greenland.
In 1981, the airline opened its first route to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, linking the main hub at Kangerlussuaq Airport
Kangerlussuaq Airport
Kangerlussuaq Airport is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only two civilian airports in Greenland large enough to handle large airliners, having more stable weather, being located further...
with Reykjavík Airport
Reykjavík Airport
Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport (Icelandic: Reykjavíkurflugvöllur, is the chiefly domestic airport serving Reykjavík, Iceland. The airport lies two kilometres from Reykjavík's city centre. Possessing rather short runways, it normally only serves flights within Iceland and to...
via Kulusuk Airport. Towards the end of the decade the number of employees rose to 400, with the number of passengers served exceeding 100,000 annually for the first time.
1990s
In May 1998, Greenlandair began operating its first jet aircraft, a Boeing 757-200Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...
. Continuing with the tradition of giving personal names to its aircraft, the airline named the airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
Kunuunnguaq, in honor of the Greenlandic explorer and ethnologist, Knud Rasmussen, whose bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
decorates in the terminal of Kangerlussuaq Airport, the main hub of the airline.
With that purchase the airline planned to break the SAS monopoly on the profitable Kangerlussuaq–Copenhagen route, with operations beginning immediately after the purchase of the 757. The network of regional airports was extended during the decade, with several new STOL airports constructed: Sisimiut Airport
Sisimiut Airport
Sisimiut Airport is an airport located northwest of Sisimiut, a town in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The airport has a single runway designated 14/32 which measures , built on the northern shore of Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay....
, Maniitsoq Airport
Maniitsoq Airport
Maniitsoq Airport is an airport located northwest of Maniitsoq, a town in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It can serve STOL aircraft, although there is no deicing equipment at the airport, which is costly and problematic in Greenlandic winter.-Airlines and destinations:...
, and Aasiaat Airport
Aasiaat Airport
Aasiaat Airport is an airport located northeast of Aasiaat, a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland. It can serve STOL aircraft, although there is no deicing equipment at the airport, which is costly and problematic in Greenlandic winter....
in western Greenland; Qaarsut Airport
Qaarsut Airport
Qaarsut Airport is an airport in Qaarsut, a settlement on the Nuussuaq Peninsula in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a primary airport with a gravel runway, capable of serving STOL aircraft of Air Greenland in all seasons...
and Upernavik Airport
Upernavik Airport
Upernavik Airport is an airport located northeast of Upernavik, a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, capable of serving STOL aircraft...
in northwestern Greenland.
Having acquired its fifth Dash-7, Greenlandair was, for the first time since its inception, able to provide plane services to all major towns in Greenland; Uummannaq
Uummannaq
Uummannaq is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality, in northwestern Greenland. With 1,299 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the eleventh-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal...
town is served by Qaarsut Airport in conjunction with Uummannaq Heliport. In 1999, the airline served 282,000 passengers, nearly three times as many as by the end of the previous decade.
2000s
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the airline sought to renew its aging fleet, retiring several of its S-61 and 206 helicopters, replacing the latter with Bell 212s and AS350 Eurocopters. On 18 April 2002, Greenlandair changed its name to Air Greenland, adopting the new, all-red livery, and changing the logo.SAS abandoned to route to Copenhagen in 2003, leaving Air Greenland as the only carrier linking Greenland with mainland Europe. The airline was able to fill in the gap in service with the newly acquired Airbus A330-200, nicknamed Norsaq, the second airliner in the fleet of the airline. SAS briefly revived the service in 2007 dropping it again in January 2009.
In 2003, Air Greenland won the U.S. Air Force contract for flights to Thule Air Base (previously held by SAS) with flights starting in February 2004. The contract was renewed for a five-year period in 2008.
The first takeover of another airline took place on 28 July 2006: Air Greenland acquired Air Alpha Greenland
Air Alpha Greenland
Air Alpha Greenland was a subsidiary of Air Alpha, an aircraft company based in Odense, Denmark. Air Alpha Greenland operated flights in Greenland from Ilulissat. The subsidiary was founded in 1994. On 28 July 2006, it was sold to Air Greenland.-Fleet:...
, a subsidiary of Air Alpha, an aircraft company based in Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, Denmark. The acquired company operated helicopter flights in the Disko Bay region, and in eastern Greenland. Since the takeover, the Bell 222
Bell 222
The Bell 222 is a twin-engined light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 230 is an improved development with different engines and other minor changes. A cosmetically modified version of the 222 was used as the titular aircraft in the US television series Airwolf.-Development:In the late...
helicopters are still used by Air Greenland for passenger transfers between Nerlerit Inaat Airport and Ittoqqortoormiit Heliport
Ittoqqortoormiit Heliport
Ittoqqortoormiit Heliport is a heliport in Ittoqqortoormiit, a village in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland.-Relocation:The Nerlerit Inaat Airport may be relocated to a new site on Liverpool Land closer to Ittoqqortoormiit, between the settlement and Unarteq cape to the south, thus...
.
The SAS Group announced their intention to sell their shares in Air Greenland on 13 June 2007, a move later incorporated in the Core SAS restructuring program of the group. As of 2010 the airline has not executed on its decision.
On 1 October 2007 the airline introduced the e-ticket
Electronic ticket
An electronic ticket is a digital ticket. It may be issued by an airline, in road, urban or rail public transport, and in entertainment.-Airline ticket:...
booking system. The service to Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was opened in the summer of 2007, but due to poor ticket sales it was closed in March 2008. Reopening of the connection to Iqaluit was considered by Air Greenland in late 2009, but was later postponed until at least 2011. In 2009 the airline carried 399,000 passengers. In 2009, the length of the scheduled service network was 14235 km (8,845.2 mi), with the cabin factor (revenue passengers-kilometres expressed as percentage of available seat-kilometres) averaging 79.3%.
2010s
On 1 January 2010, Air Greenland suspended its participation in the EuroBonusEuroBonus
EuroBonus is the frequent flyer program of four European airlines of SAS Group. It was launched by Scandinavian Airlines System in 1992.-SAS Group - EuroBonus:* Blue1 * Scandinavian Airlines System * Widerøe...
frequent-flyer program of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).
In 2011, nonstop service from Narsarsuaq to Copenhagen will no longer be available.
In order to compete with Air Iceland
Air Iceland
Air Iceland is a regional airline with its head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operates scheduled services to domestic destinations and to Greenland. Its main bases are Reykjavík Airport and Akureyri Airport...
, which operates service from Reykjavik airport (not Reykjavik-Keflavik) to Nuuk, Narsarsuaq, Ilulissat
Ilulissat
Ilulissat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut....
, and all Greenlandic major airports on the eastern coast, Air Greenland for 2011 may fly a nonstop Nuuk, Greenland to Keflavík International Airport
Keflavík International Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Ground transport:Transport between the airport and Reykjavik city is by road only. The distance is 50 km. A new fast freeway was opened 2008. The buses have a timetable adapted to the flight schedule. They go to and from the Reykjavik bus terminal, taking around 45 minutes...
, Iceland route.
Destinations
Air Greenland's domestic airport network includes all 13 civilian airports within Greenland. Two international airportInternational airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
s capable of serving large airliners—Kangerlussuaq Airport
Kangerlussuaq Airport
Kangerlussuaq Airport is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only two civilian airports in Greenland large enough to handle large airliners, having more stable weather, being located further...
and Narsarsuaq Airport—were formerly used as U.S. Air Force military bases, and have been used for transatlantic flights.
All other regional airports are STOL-capable, and are served with Dash-7 and Dash-8 fixed-wing aircraft. Outside Greenland, the airline operates transatlantic flights to Keflavík International Airport in Iceland, and to Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
in Denmark.
Smaller communities are served by settlement flights from the local helicopter hubs in Upernavik Airport in the Upernavik Archipelago
Upernavik Archipelago
Upernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...
in northwestern Greenland, in Uummannaq Heliport in the Uummannaq Fjord region in northwestern Greenland, in Ilulissat Airport and Aasiaat Airport in the Disko Bay region in western Greenland, in Qaqortoq Heliport
Qaqortoq Heliport
Qaqortoq Heliport is a heliport in the southern part of Qaqortoq, a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :...
and Nanortalik Heliport
Nanortalik Heliport
Nanortalik Heliport is a heliport in the eastern part of Nanortalik, a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :...
in southern Greenland, and in Tasiilaq Heliport
Tasiilaq Heliport
Tasiilaq Heliport is a heliport in Tasiilaq, a town located on the Ammassalik Island in the Sermersooq municipality, in southeastern Greenland. Until 1997 the heliport was known as Ammassalik Heliport.-Airlines and destinations:...
in southeastern Greenland. Out of 45 heliports served, 8 are primary, equipped with solid-surface helipad
Helipad
Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...
s, a terminal building, and permanent staff. The remaining heliports are helistops, with either a gravel or a grass landing area.
Fleet
The Air Greenland fleet includes the following aircraft (active aircraft as of April, 2011)Fixed-wing fleet
The de Havilland Canada Dash 7 is the primary aircraft used by Air Greenland, operating on all domestic airport-to-airport routes. The cockpit doors of all Dash 7 planes are decorated with Inuit artInuit art
Inuit art refers to artwork produced by Inuit people, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive outside Alaska...
; furthermore, many of the Dash 7s are endowed with names, such as Papikkaaq (Big Tail), Nipiki (Silent), Minniki (Short Lander) and Sapangaq (Pearl). The reliability of this plane design has been successfully demonstrated in the difficult weather conditions in Greenland; however, the four-engine machines, acquired in the 1980s, require frequent repairs, generating high maintenance costs. In 2010 the airline acquired its first de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q200, followed by another before the start of the summer season. The newer, two-engine Dash 8 Q200 is to become the primary aircraft of the airline in the future.
there are no outstanding plane or helicopter orders, with the airline operating the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | |
|||||
| Airbus A330-200 | 1 | — | 54 | 191 | 245 | Copenhagen - Kangerlussuaq Charter |
|
| Beechcraft B200 King Air Beechcraft Super King Air The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series... |
1 | — | 0 | 7 | 7 | Ambulance Charter |
|
| DHC-6-300 (Twin Otter) | 2 | — | 0 | 14 | 14 | Ambulance Charter |
OY-ATY in retro livery |
| Dash 7 De Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier... |
6 | — | 0 | 50 | 50 | Domestic Charter |
To be phased out |
| Dash 8 Q200 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 37 | Nuuk – Reykjavík-Keflavík Domestic Charter |
||
| Total | 13 | 0 | |||||
Helicopter fleet
The Bell 212 is the primary helicopter used for flights to district villages. The older Sikorsky S-61N machines are stationed in Ilulissat Airport and Qaqortoq Heliport. With a capacity to seat 25 passengers, the S-61 based in southern Greenland was used to shuttle passengers arriving from Copenhagen at Narsarsuaq Airport. The sale of the Boeing 757 in April 2010 contributed to the long-term decline of the airport, with the airline planning to remove the old helicopter from the fleet. Three of the Bell 222 helicopters are taken out of active service, and remain stationed in Kangerlussuaq Airport having been put up for sale.| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Routes | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | |
|||||
| Bell 212 | 8 | — | 0 | 9 | 9 | Domestic Charter |
|
| Bell 222 Bell 222 The Bell 222 is a twin-engined light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 230 is an improved development with different engines and other minor changes. A cosmetically modified version of the 222 was used as the titular aircraft in the US television series Airwolf.-Development:In the late... |
4 | — | 0 | 8 | 8 | Nerlerit Inaat – Ittoqqortoormiit Charter |
3 stored Remaining to be sold |
| Eurocopter AS350 | 10 | — | 0 | 5 | 5 | Domestic Charter |
|
| Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma | — | 2 | 0 | 24 | 24 | to be delivered in 2014 | |
| Sikorsky S-61 Sikorsky S-61 The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. They are two of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built.-Design and development:... N |
2 | — | 0 | 25 | 25 | Domestic Charter |
To be phased out OY-HAF in retro livery |
| Total | 24 | 2 | |||||
Historical Fleet
In the past, Air Greenland (also as Greenlandair) used the following aircraft:- Aérospatiale Alouette IIIAérospatiale Alouette IIIThe Aérospatiale Alouette III is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation. It was manufactured by Aérospatiale of France, and under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India as Hal Chetak and Industria Aeronautică Română in Romania.The Alouette III is the...
- Bell 204Bell 204/205The Bell 204 and 205 are the civil versions of the ubiquitous UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, including crop dusting, cargo lifting, and one of its most common uses, aerial...
- Bell 206B Jet RangerBell 206The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...
- Boeing 757-200
- Cessna 172Cessna 172The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing fixed-wing aircraft. First flown in 1955 and still in production, more Cessna 172s have been built than any other aircraft.-Design and development:...
- Cessna 550
- de Havilland Canada DHC-3 OtterDe Havilland Canada DHC-3 OtterThe de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger aircraft.-Design and...
- Douglas DC-3Douglas DC-3The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
- Douglas DC-4Douglas DC-4The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
- Douglas DC-6Douglas DC-6The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
- Eurocopter AS355Eurocopter AS355The Eurocopter AS355 Ecureuil 2 is a twin-engine light helicopter originally manufactured by Aérospatiale...
- MD-500MD Helicopters MD 500The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is an American family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. The MD 500 was developed from the Hughes 500, a civilian version of the US Army's OH-6A Cayuse/Loach...
- PBY CatalinaPBY CatalinaThe Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
- Piper PA-18 Super Cub
- Piper PA-31Piper PA-31 NavajoThe Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
- Sikorsky S-55
- Sikorsky S-58
Management and structure
The government of Greenland and the SAS GroupSAS Group
Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag , trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground...
are the largest shareholders of the airline, owning a 37.5% stake each. The government of Denmark
Government of Denmark
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a unicameral parliamentary system. The affairs of Government are decided by a Cabinet of Ministers, which is led by a Prime Minister...
owns the remaining 25% of the stock. The board of directors, chaired by Julia Pars of the government of Greenland, includes representatives of all shareholders, and of the airline employees. Michael Binzer, previously heading the airline's marketing and sales department, has been holding the position of chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
since June 2007.
Headquartered in Nuuk, the airline had 668 employees in December 2009. The airline's technical base is located at Nuuk Airport
Nuuk Airport
Nuuk Airport is an airport in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The airport is a technical base and focus city for Air Greenland, the flag-carrier airline of Greenland, linking the capital with several towns in western and south-western part of the country, including the airline hub at Kangerlussuaq...
.
Charter
The charter unit within Air Greenland, led by Hans Peter Hansen, employs 8 people, with 13 helicopters and 3 fixed-wing aircraft at its disposal. Excess capacity of airplanes is used for regular charters to tourist destinations in Europe, Asia, and Africa.The helicopters, primarily the AS350, are used for special flights, such as search and rescue, air ambulance, charter flights to the Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located north of the Arctic Circle and from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland. It is approximately east of the North Magnetic Pole.-Overview:Thule Air Base is the...
on contract with the U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, geological exploration, and supply flights to the mining sites, and to the research stations on the Greenland ice sheet
Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...
. During the peak summer season, the helicopter crew is supplemented by freelance
Freelancer
A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...
pilots from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Other charter flights include heliskiing
Heliskiing
Heliskiing is off-trail, downhill skiing that is accessed by a helicopter, not a ski lift. Heliskiing is essentially about skiing in a natural—albeit highly selected—environment without the effort or gear compromise required for hiking into these areas as in ski touring or ski mountaineering.Most...
shuttles, services for the developing energy industry involving comprehensive surveys of the optimal location of planned power plants such as the Sisimiut Hydro Power Plant
Sisimiut Hydro Power Plant
Sisimiut Hydro Power Plant is a hydroelectric power plant near Sisimiut, Greenland. Construction started in March 2007 and the plant was commissioned on 7 April 2010. The initial capacity of the power plant is 15 MW. The construction included of concrete constructions, a blasted tunnel with...
and the aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore Bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery....
plant in the Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord
Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord
Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord is a fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. Taking its source in the tidewater glaciers draining the Maniitsoq ice sheet, the fjord flows in a deep canyon through a mountainous, uninhabited region, emptying into Davis Strait near the settlement of...
region, and environmental research: counting polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s and tracking other large Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
.
Subsidiary companies
The Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Transport oversees the development of the transport industry in Greenland through MittarfeqarfiitMittarfeqarfiit
The Greenland Airport Authority is the national airport operator of the airports in Greenland, in charge of airport upgrades and associated fees and taxes in all airports in Greenland....
, the airport authority in Greenland. The ministry exerts influence on the decisions made by the either partially or wholly state-owned companies, including airport taxes, the pricing policy of Air Greenland, the network of maritime connections supplementing the network of airports and heliports, and the tourism development strategy for Greenland.
Arctic Umiaq Line
With a 50% stake, Air Greenland is the co-owner of Arctic Umiaq Line (AUL), the passenger and freight ferry. M/S Sarfaq Ittuk of AUL operates a coastal route, feeding passengers from small coastal communities—between IlulissatIlulissat
Ilulissat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut....
in the north and Narsaq
Narsaq
Narsaq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name Narsaq is Greenlandic for "plain", referring to the beautiful plain on the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located.- History :...
in the south—to the larger towns covered by the Air Greenland airport network.
The ferry entered a turbulent period in the late 2000s. Annual state subsidies from the government of Greenland amounted to 5 million Danish krone
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
(DKK), while allegations of mismanagement of resources and the contested decision to sell one of two of the ships in the fleet contributed to the threat of bankruptcy before the end of 2010. On 16 March 2010, Air Greenland announced plans to divest its stock. This announcement of the airline makes it likely that the forecast bankruptcy may still take place in 2010; the operations are guaranteed only until the end of the year.
Tourism companies
Air Greenland wholly owns Hotel Arctic A/S, a hotel and travel agency based in Ilulissat, which partially owns World of Greenland, an outfitter company also based in Ilulissat. The airline also owns Greenland Travel, a package-tour travel agencyTravel agency
A travel agency is a retail business that sells travel related products and services to customers on behalf of suppliers such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays that combine several products...
based in Copenhagen.
Service
Economy class
Air Greenland offers flexible and restricted economy class on all flights operated with fixed-wing aircraft, with complimentary snacks and drinks. On transatlantic flights to Copenhagen, both economy class and business class seats are available, with in-flight meals served in all classes. Air Greenland publishes a quarterly Suluk in-flight magazine, with general information about current political and cultural events in Greenland, and with news from the airline. The word Suluk means wing in the Greenlandic language.Business class
The flexible business class offered by Air Greenland—nicknamed Nanoq-Class from the Greenlandic word for a polar bearPolar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
—is offered on the transatlantic flights operated with the Airbus A330-200, nicknamed Norsaq. The service includes a personal video screen, an in-seat power source, an amenity kit, blankets and a selection of newspapers. Passengers travelling on this class are eligible to use the Novia Business Class Lounge at Copenhagen Airport.
Settlement flights
Air Greenland operates helicopter flights to most settlements in Greenland on contract with the government of Greenland. with the destination network coordinated by the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Transport. The flights are classified as settlement flights (booking class A), and are subsidized by the government. Settlement flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked.Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day. Settlement flights in the Disko Bay region are unique in that they are operated only during winter and spring. During summer and autumn, communication between settlements is by sea only, also on a governmental contract, with services operated by Diskoline
Diskoline
Disko Line A/S is a passenger and freight ferry line in western Greenland. It was founded in 2004 as a small freight company.- Complementary transport services :...
, a passenger and freight ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
based in Ilulissat.
Accidents and incidents
- On 29 August 1961, a DHC-3 Otter with a CF-MEX registration, crashed 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) from Kangerlussuaq. The aircraft was a non-scheduled service en-route from Kangerlussuaq Airport to Aasiaat Airport, when a fuel leak caused an in-flight fire. One of the pilots was killed, while the other pilot and the four passengers survived.
- On 12 May 1962, a PBY Catalina flying boatFlying boatA flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
with the CF-IHA registration, crashed during landing at Nuuk Airport. The accident was caused by a mechanical malfunction in the nose wheel doors preventing them from closing during landing on water, resulting in the aircraft sinking. The accident killed 15 of the 21 people on board. - On 25 October 1973, an Air Greenland S-61N, OY-HAI "Akigssek" ("Grouse") crashed about 40 km south of NuukNuukNuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...
, resulting in the loss of 15 lives. It was en route to Pamiut from NuukNuukNuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...
. The same aircraft had an emergency landing on the KangerlussuaqKangerlussuaqKangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality, located at the head of a fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub, being the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport....
fjord 2 years earlier, due to double flameout on both engines because of ice in the intake. - On 7 June 2008, a Eurocopter AS350 crashed on the runway at Nuuk Airport. There were no injuries, but the helicopter was damaged beyond repair.
See also
- List of airports in Greenland, Denmark
- List of companies of Greenland
- List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries
- SAS GroupSAS GroupScandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag , trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground...
- Transport in GreenlandTransport in GreenlandThe transportation system in Greenland is very unusual in that Greenland has no railways, no inland waterways, and virtually no roads between towns.-Overview:...
and DenmarkTransport in DenmarkTransport in Denmark is developed and modern. The motorway network now covers 1,111 km while the railway network totals 2,667 km of operational track...