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For many decades Air Greenland has used the American-built Kangerlussuaq Airport as a transit hub flying Dash 8-200s from Greenlandic villages and connecting them between each other and Copenhagen. The former US Military base opened as Sondrestrom Air Base in 1941 to protect the island from Nazi Germany after they successfully invaded Denmark. Kangerlussuaq is Greenland’s 17th most-populated town, but it was chosen as an ideal location for an airport due to its stable weather. It continued to be an American base throughout the Cold War until 1992. Since Nuuk is Greenland’s largest city with 19,000 people, there’s been a desire for the hub to be situated there. After years of construction, Nuuk finally opened its long-awaited new runway this week, and the A330-800neo “Tuukkaq“ landed there from Copenhagen on a media flight (that Air Greenland strictly banned me from joining). This effectively retired Kangerlussuaq’s hub status, and the airport will scale back it’s activity to only a few Dash 8 flights, cruise charter flights, military operations, and search & rescue. Air Greenland has been wholly owned by the Greenlandic Government since 2019 when SAS sold its remaining shares. SAS partnered with a Danish mining company in 1960 to create the airline named Grønlandsfly. Over the years Air Greenland has benefited greatly from the United States military contracts transporting soldiers and supplies to (Pituffik) Thule Air Base. Among its mixed fixed-wing and helicopter fleet stands a lone Airbus A330-800neo nicknamed “Tuukkaq“. It was delivered in 2022 and only operates between Greenland and Denmark like a shuttle. Transportation on the island is tricky as there aren’t highways or roads connecting villages, especially in its capital city Nuuk. Boats are useful but most of the coastlines freeze in the winter. Aviation has long been the method of choice for people connecting domestically and leaving. Greenland imports about 80% of its food and isn’t self-sufficient, making them reliant on Denmark to send groceries. The tourism industry reflects only 10% of Greenland’s economy as it’s still blossoming. I love visiting the island but the infrastructure and customer service needs improvements across the board. Greenland is an autonomous colony of Denmark that for centuries has lived as a largely isolated society until the 1950s when the Danes began to treat Greenland really bad. Denmark’s de-Greenlandification included building Euro-style apartment complexes, mandatory use of the Danish language, and forced schooling for Greenland’s youth in Denmark. They were successful in turning Greenlanders from primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners. In recent years a culture shift has grown pride in Greenlandic culture and Denmark has respected the wishes of the people and passed the Self-Government Act in 2009, allowing Greenland to control its natural resources, police, and judicial system. Follow @quintinsoloviev & @qfsaviation on Instagram to keep up with my travels! You can also email me at qfsaviation@ if you have any questions about my channel, destinations, airline suggestions, traveling to the Arctic, or any other information! FLIGHT INFORMATION ------ Airline: Air Greenland Aircraft: A330-800neo (OY-GKN) Seat: 36A (Economy) Flight Number: GL782 Route: Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) to Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (CPH) Flight Time: 4 hours, 1 minute Date of Travel: November 26, 2024 PRICING ------ Total Price: $558 Total Routing: SFJ-CPH Booking Location: TIMESTAMPS ------ 00:00 - Kangerlussuaq Airport 04:14 - Final landing 06:48 - Speech 07:30 - Boarding 10:27 - Taxi 13:16 - Takeoff 15:09 - Seat Review 16:00 - Inflight meal/speeches 20:30 - Landing 22:56 - Outro —————————— MERCHANDISE: WEBSITE: SECOND CHANNEL: EQUIPMENT: Sony A7Siii, DJI Osmo Action 5, GoPro Hero13, iPhone 16 Pro MUSIC: Epidemic INSTAGRAM: @quintinsoloviev, @qfsaviation TWITTER: @qfsaviation TIKTOK: @quintinsoloviev Let me know in the comments if you have any future video ideas! —————————— Rest in peace to the 23 soldiers killed in the 1976 US Air Force C-141A crash at Sondrestrom Air Base (Kangerlussuaq) © 2024 QFS Aviation
