Denmark revokes Nuuk airport’s international flight authorization, affecting Iqaluit travellers
Air Greenland expects operations to be normal by Aug. 20, company says
An Air Greenland plane sits at Nuuk’s old airport terminal. Due to construction on the airport ramp, passengers are picked up on buses and driven for about two minutes to the aircraft boarding zone. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
This story was updated at 2:40 p.m. ET to include an interview with passengers hoping to fly to Nuuk from Iqaluit Wednesday afternoon.
Passengers expecting to fly to Iqaluit from Nuuk Wednesday were waiting to find out how they are going to get to Canada after Denmark revoked the Greenland city airport’s security authorization for international flights.
Air Greenland announced the suspension in a travel advisory on its website Wednesday.
The Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority said in a news release, which was published in Danish, that Nuuk airport doesn’t meet “the necessary high level of security in the security area.”
“As airport security involves a high level of confidentiality, we cannot go into detail about which security measures are currently lacking,” said Christian Vesterager, the authority’s deputy director, in the news release.
“For the passengers in Nuuk, the changed security level means that for a period it will only be possible to fly to and from destinations in Greenland.”
An Air Greenland flight was still set to depart from Iqaluit to Nuuk Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. ET., according to flight information available on the airline’s website.
At Nuuk’s new airport terminal on June 26, a customs agent, seen leaning on the counter, scans the passports of passengers arriving from Iqaluit. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
A new airport terminal in Nuuk is under construction, with work expected to be completed in the fall. A new customs area is part of the plans.
Despite being the capital and largest city of Greenland, Nuuk is not home to the country’s main international airport. Kangerlussuaq is Greenland’s international hub.
Until Wednesday, Nuuk’s airport was an international destination for flights coming from Iqaluit and Iceland.
Iqaluit resident Sandi Chan was one of four passengers on a charter to Nuuk Aug. 11.
Chan planned to spend a short vacation in Nuuk with a friend from Saskatoon, with plans to return to Iqaluit with Air Greenland on Wednesday.
Chan said she didn’t speak to any customs or immigration agents upon landing.
“I didn’t show my passport to anyone,” Chan said in a message to Nunatsiaq News.
Sandi Chan of Iqaluit is waiting to find out how she’ll be getting home from Nuuk after the abrupt suspension of international flights from the Greenland capital’s airport. (Photo courtesy of Sandi Chan)
“We went from the plane to the taxi. No one pointed us where to go and the hallway and doors seemed open.”
She added, “Maybe they forgot to direct us. I will happily get my passport stamped!”
Chan said she found out at 10 a.m. local time Wednesday, which is 7 a.m. in Iqaluit, that her flight was cancelled, and now she’s waiting to find out how she’s getting home.
“[Air Greenland] answered the phone quickly, but no plans about which flight to take, or if they can book us into a hotel if there is no flight today,” Chan said.
“I believe they are still co-ordinating.”
Brenda Koenig and Drew Phillips, tourists from Illinois with plans to travel to Nuuk, said they heard about the airport issues hours before their flight.
“So we jumped in the car and went to the airport,” Koenig said after she had checked in for the flight.
The pair said airport staff told them the Air Greenland plane would pick up passengers from Iqaluit despite the issues.
However, the plane will arrive empty, as Nuuk passengers were unable to depart for “security reasons.”
“So then of course, when someone says that, you think of all sorts of like crazy scenarios, you know, terrorism, or whatever,” Koenig said.
“But they explained to us here, ‘No, your flight’s still going out.’”
According to Air Greenland, the issues should be resolved by Aug. 21, the date of the next scheduled flight from Nuuk to Iqaluit.
Koenig and Phillips say they are relying on the accuracy of this information.
“Otherwise we’ll be stuck in Nuuk. That would be a weird thing,” Phillips said.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct erroneous information about who organized the charter to Nuuk.
Fly them to Kangerlussuaq then to Iqaluit from there.
Take a hayak.
Their license with CTA does not allow them to do that
Looks like they fixed that
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/passengers-from-nuuk-arrive-in-iqaluit-despite-suspension-of-greenland-airports-international-flights/
Anyone know why Kangerlussuaq is the international flight hub instead of Nuuk? Infrastructure maybe? Geographic location? Thanks
A combination of weather and geography. From what I understand, Kangerlussuaq is less prone to fog than Nuuk. As well, there was more room to easily build a longer runway. Although Nuuk has expanded its runway, it took quite a bit of engineering while Kangerlussuaq has more flat space.
Because it was built by the Americans during and after WW2 at no cost to Denmark/Greenland, because of its flat land and very stable climate because it is at the head of a very long fjord, giving it a stable “inland” climate rather than coastal north foggy weather.
The original runway is on the hills, short can land small aircraft, Kangerlussuaq has a huge runway. Able to accommodate jets.
During WWII and again in the early 1950s the United States invested heavily in air strips and bases across the north. Nuuk then called Godhab did not have sufficient flat areas for a longer runways for transatlantic flights.
I flew from Iqaluit to Nuuk a few weeks ago. Border security and passport control was optional, with one guy milling around and nobody to stop you from just going to baggage claim. When we got off the plane, nobody told us where to go and nobody was on the runway to guide us. Had to try different doors on the building until we found one that was unlocked.
A similar thing once happened at Ottawa airport not long after it had opened. A flight from Britain landed and because of some mix-up in the corridor arrangements, passengers didn’t go through customs. I think the mistake was caught before anyone left the airport and everyone was brought back and went through proper entry procedures.
I suspect at Nuuk the construction has caused some “funneling” issues (how that could happen or be overlooked I’m not sure) so they have closed off the international portion. It sounds like people were accidentally bypassing customs.
This has nothing to do with customs or inbound flight. This has to do with security screening for outgoing flights. The level of screening was not up to par (this would be a standard) meaning any international flight was leaving “dirty”.
imagine CATSA in Canada not being able to xray a bag or something similar
This has nothing to do with the X-ray machines or screening bags, it’s about one door that was left unlocked in the secure area and the Danish authorities revoked their international airport authorization.
New airport terminal that is not completely completed.
When the Danish authorities feel ready to revisit this they will and it will more than likely be back to normal.
This situation is yet another exquisite example of Canadian North management’s incompetence and negligence. Not undertaking sufficient due diligence before engaging in the operation of any new service is an assured path to failure.
The Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority said that Nuuk airport doesn’t meet “the necessary high level of security in the security area.”
It is in the best interest of customer service for Canadian North to ensure that any new route (even one operated as a partnership) is operated in such a manner that reflects the current industry best practices.
Nobody even vaguely familiar with Canadian North is even remotely surprised to see company management (mismanagement) drop the ball so pathetically, and so predictably, once again.
Aeronautical Science and Aviation management programs around the globe have long been using Canadian North as an abundant source of examples of how not to try to operate an airline.
It is a very inexcusable and amateur failure for Canadian North to not ensure that the requisite supporting infrastructure was actually in place. This is yet another perfect example of Canadian North’s recurring negligence, incompetence, and utter lack of situation awareness.
Canadian North may be a bad airline, but it is a great source of hilarious jokes (or sad jokes, if you are unfortunate enough to be a Canadian North employee).
No wonder so many frontline Canadian North employees continually assure their friends and family that “management has absolutely no idea what they are doing”. That situation is clearly so true.
Arctic AME, you raise some good points, though I fear they are clouded by maybe much negative experience. The thing about Canadian North that I do not understand is their continued monopoly and price fixing.
Next week I have a flight from Yellowknife to Whitehorse. Air North operates this flight and my cost was $250.00.
I will then fly from Ottawa back to Iqaluit and my cost was over $1400.00, and I got a cheaper ticket then some.
I get their old saying that the Ottawa to Iqaluit route subsidizes the flight from Iqaluit to the communities. But why is this allowed? They already charge a huge cost to fly to any other Baffin Community.
Chronos is offering Montreal to Iqaluit for $699 now. That is better, but still too high. Remember when Sarvak tried to put a new flight in place? Canadian North and First Air quickly dropped their price. Competition is what is required. Just look at Yellowknife with 4 airlines flying in and out. Prices are way cheaper.
Frustrating for sure.
You seemed to be confused. This issues has nothing to do with Canadian North. It really has nothing to do with Air Greenland who operates the flight. This is an airport security issue. Canadian North has its faults and it sounds like you are a former employee who was not happy and left but I am not sure why you would hold Canadian North reasonable for a flight that is not theirs.
In the current arrangement Canadian North is a handler in Iqaluit and also has an interline agreement allowing for both airlines to sell connections. This is the same as you being able to buy your Air Canada or Westjet tickets all with Canadian North.
So riddle me this… Westjet just has 16 planes go down because of a hail storm would you suggest to those who bought a ticket on Canadian North from Yellowknife to Edmonton and then a connection Edmonton to Ottawa on Westjet and had a cancellation that Canadian North didn’t do its due diligence?
I flew this route this summer. There was security at both Iqaluit and Nuuk. I think the issue may be more with passport control, on departure from Greenland as the officers were just asking people in the waiting area if they were flying to Canada so they could get their passports stamped. When we flew in, border patrol was waiting for us to stamp us in.
I would argue that you didn’t get a cheap ticket. If you book on a flight early enough that hasn’t sold past the threshold you will get Ottawa Iqaluit for 479.70.
Air North for the routing you mentioned is 528 on Sunday.
You need to understand Airline Pricing. This is the same on all the carriers.
I left Nuuk on August 7, checking in one carry-on size bag. I rarely check any luggage anymore and typically travel with carry-on luggage only. Silly me, I thought it’s a 1.45 hr flight with no connections and I’m going home, I’ll check this bag. My husband and I both did. On arrival in Iqaluit, my husband’s checked carry-on arrived, mine did not. It took 30m to fill in the Air Greenland and Canadian North lost luggage forms and get handed a customer service card. I know the flight is a once-weekly event, so I waited a week, watching my air tagged bag sit in Nuuk. In the meanwhile, no one from either airline contracted me about my bag but I did receive an emailed customer satisfaction survey from Air Greenland which I filled in and in which I described the issue of the lack of contract about my checked luggage not arriving with me at my destination. I did not get my bag yesterday, likely due to the security issue in Nuuk airport. No one has contracted me about it. I’m glad I wasn’t connecting on to another destination because I’d be doing so without my belongings and with the airlines caring not one iota about my bag taking more than a week to join me and actually NOT joining me yet. I sent an email to Air Greenland customer service yesterday with my completed lost luggage forms. I just wish someone from either airline would get in touch to tell me when to expect my bag to be delivered. I know they don’t care but I do need to know if and when to file an insurance claim for a bag I can see is sitting in Nuuk airport.
What does any of this rant have to do with Canadian North? There may be many reasons to dislike CN but this event is not one of them.
I guess the ‘your Greenland adventure awaits’ banner was a little too on the nose
If the article is correct, it deals with airport security and not border control. It reminds everyone that Greenland is a Danish colony as the order is coming from Denmark without any prior notice and shows that Copenhagen doesn’t care one bit about the stranded passengers. Of course this isn’t a new, unforeseen situation but one that has taken place for some time in the face of anyone who flew on an international flight out of Nuuk and it took that much time before the colonial power realized the situation and imposed the order. Passengers’ safety out of Nuuk airport doesn’t seem to be a Danish priority…
Except Greenland isn’t a colony.