Adventure company revives Iqaluit-Greenland route

DENISE RIDEOUT

An Iqaluit-based adventure company and an Inuit-owned airline are teaming up to fly sports fans to the Arctic Winter Games.

Starting March 16, Air Inuit will run flights between Iqaluit and Nuuk, Greenland, the co-hosts of the event.

The joint venture between Air Inuit and Polynya Adventure and Coordination Ltd. means AWG participants and observers can travel easily between the two cities without having to arrange a charter.

This past October, travel between Nunavut and Greenland was all but cut off when First Air and Greenlandair ended their 20-year-old Nunavut-Greenland route. Both airlines said there wasn’t enough business to sustain the weekly flight.

Polynya, a company started by Eric Leuthold and Jimi Onalik in 2000, is capitalizing on the need for resumed service created by the Games.

“With that flight no longer being possible since the end of October, we’ve been keeping our eyes open for opportunities and other ways to keep getting people across to there,” said Leuthold, the company’s president.

Polynya will use Air Inuit’s deHavilland Dash 8 aircraft to transport passengers, and the airline’s crew will fly the planes.

Polynya looked to Air Inuit, the airline owned by the Makivik Corporation in Nunavik, because its planes are large and have the ability to land at the airstrip in Nuuk.

“We made contact with the airlines to fill that demand and Air Inuit came in with the best offer,” Leuthold said.

Flights between the two capital cities will run on the 16th, 18th, 20th, 21st and 23rd of March. The flight schedule means people can stay in Iqaluit or Nuuk for a few days, or simply take a 12-hour jaunt.

“This way, they can have a day in Nuuk and not have to worry about making hotel arrangements,” Leuthold said.

The business arrangement is an exciting, and somewhat chancy, venture for Polynya. “We’ve basically hired Air Inuit to fly these charters,” Leuthold said. “But we’re taking the risk. If we don’t sell the seats, we’re still paying for these charter flights — which can be rather pricey.”

Still, Polynya doesn’t think selling seats will be tough.

“The phone has been ringing,” Leuthold said. “There’s been a lot of interest.”