Air Greenland’s Airbus A330-800 Tuukkaq arrived in Ilulissat on 29 October, bringing widebody service to a Greenlandic airport whose previous runway measured just 845 meters. The arrival marked the opening of a new 2,200-meter runway and airport facilities, broadening the reach of Greenland’s third-largest city and completing the recent round of Greenlandic airport expansion. The new, longer runway at Ilulissat joins the new airports at Nuuk and Qaqortoq as the Greenland Airports looks to bring additional flights to the island.
View playback of the inaugural flight
Opening the gateway to North Greenland
For Ilulissat and the surrounding Disko Bay region, the additional runway length opens up a world of possibilities and provides the opportunity for direct transcontinental connection. The new runway is more than two and a half times the length of the old runway, part of a redevelopment that also includes a new passenger terminal, technical building, and control tower.
“We can now welcome the first passengers at the new Ilulissat International Airport. We have been looking forward to this for years, and hundreds of people have worked hard so that we can now complete a historic expansion of Greenland’s infrastructure,” says Jens Lauridsen, CEO of Greenland Airports.
Ilulissat’s natural beauty
The airport serves a region whose best-known attraction is the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The terminal itself makes the setting part of the arrival.
“The terminal is built for the place it stands in. From the moment you step inside, the building opens towards Disko Bay, and arriving passengers see the ice before they see anything else,” says Ilulissat Airport Manager Ole Damgaard.
The inaugural A330 flight is an important moment for Greenland’s aviation renewal, but the regular service will be operated with less capacity. Air Greenland says Jettime will operate a Boeing 737-800 on the route during the winter, primarily on Wednesdays, with additional departures around Christmas, New Year, and in March. Air Greenland’s soon-to-be-delivered Airbus A320neo, Unaaq, is scheduled to take over in April 2027, with service increasing to as many as six weekly flights during the height of summer.
“Our task now is to convert that infrastructure into commercially sustainable routes and year-round connectivity that creates lasting value for tourism, fisheries and communities across North Greenland,” says René von Ahm Laursen, Chief Commercial Officer of Greenland Airports.
Operations at the airport will also expand in stages. Greenland Airports is targeting full operations by the summer 2027 season, gradually increasing opening hours and activity as the new facilities settle into service.
Completing this round of expansion
Ilulissat completes Greenland’s three-airport construction program, following the opening of Nuuk’s new runway in November 2024 and Qaqortoq Airport in April 2026. Together, the projects reshape where passengers enter Greenland and how they continue to their destinations. The new airports also enable more direct routes for residents.
In Air Greenland’s network, Nuuk remains the main hub, while Ilulissat becomes a second international hub with a direct Copenhagen connection and onward access to Disko Bay and North Greenland. Domestic aircraft and helicopters will continue to connect the wider region with those international services.
For visitors, the immediate attraction is a more direct route to the icefjord. For residents and businesses, the longer-term promise is a wider choice of connections and better access to markets beyond Greenland.
“Infrastructure is a long-term investment, and its real effects are measured in decades rather than seasons,” says Greenland Airports Chairman Jens Wittrup Willumsen.
The opening of Ilulissat’s new, longer runway marks the completion of a series of construction projects and the beginning of a new era in Greenlandic connectivity.
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