CEO Interview: Air Greenland’s Chief Talks About Air Transport Outlook

With the opening of a new airport in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, the world’s largest island is now more accessible than ever before. Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen discusses the airline’s expansion plans in a time of increased geopolitical focus on the autonomous territory of Denmark.

What does the opening of the Nuuk International Airport in November 2024 mean for the aviation market in Greenland? Until the opening of Nuuk Airport, the main gateway to Greenland was an airport called Kangerlussuaq, a former U.S. military base built during World War II. It’s a very weather-stable airport, but nobody really lives there. So basically, we would take our [Airbus] A330 aircraft into Kangerlussuaq, unload the 305 passengers, and then distribute from there on with the commuter aircraft because all the runways in the cities of Greenland are very short. But this was a bottleneck for both passengers and cargo. The airport in Nuuk means a large percentage of passengers can now go directly to their final destination.

How has that changed your operating model? We’ve been preparing for this for many years, and so we have completely restructured the whole network and the way that we operate. We previously had to balance both the domestic flights within Greenland with distributing the passengers from the international network. Now, we can concentrate more on having a stable international feed, and also that frees up capacity for the domestic network. We can now offer a better international schedule and a better domestic schedule.

Given Greenland’s geographical position, do you see the potential to operate a North America-Europe connecting hub in Nuuk, similar to Icelandair’s hub in Reykjavik? I don’t think we’ll see sort of the full-scale similar operating model, simply because the new airport in Nuuk cannot handle more than one big aircraft at a time, and the hub-and-spoke model requires the airport to be able to accommodate a lot of aircraft at the same time. However, Greenland is in a unique position with increasing global interest. While the primary focus remains on expanding connections to Denmark, the biggest limitation to growth is not the airport itself but rather onshore infrastructure, including hotel capacity and tourism facilities.

Thankfully, we are already seeing investments in more hotel capacity. More tourist operators are popping up and starting businesses. Building on that, we will be able to expand our network.

Do you see Air Greenland expanding to the US market? As I mentioned, the U.S. has always been an interesting market for us, but the current limitations in onshore capacity have been a major concern. Our fear has been that without enough hotel beds and tourism infrastructure, we wouldn’t be able to grow the market organically. Instead, we risked simply shifting demand rather than expanding it. However, with United [Airlines] now entering the market [2X-weekly from New York Newark, starting June 14], it will be interesting to see how that affects the market.

In terms of your domestic connectivity, how do you balance being a commercial airline with also being an essential service provider? It’s a very difficult balancing act. In Greenland, all scheduled helicopter routes operate under government contracts, as running them commercially is not financially viable. However, the domestic [De Havilland] Dash 8 network operates as a fully commercial service without government subsidies. This is reflected in ticket prices.

This balancing act becomes even more challenging with increased competition from other airlines. Many of these competitors are essentially cherry-picking profitable routes, which puts pressure on our core traffic. If we lose too much of that core business, the model will no longer be sustainable. In that case, we would have to reassess certain routes and potentially seek government grants or subsidies to maintain them.

Air Greenland has a fixed-wing fleet of one Airbus A330neo and eight Dash 8s, plus an Airbus helicopter fleet. What are your future plans, given the Dash 8s are aging? Over the past five years, we have completely transformed our fleet, renewing all aircraft except the Dash 8. However, the Dash 8s remain essential due to Greenland’s uniquely challenging conditions. Many of our runways are among the shortest in the world, and in winter operations, they become even more demanding. Currently, the Dash 8 is the only aircraft capable of handling these conditions while also offering the necessary range and all-weather capabilities.

Currently, no viable replacement exists. However, new airports in Nuuk and later in Ilulissat will free up Dash 8 capacity, extending the lifespan of our fleet. Since we operate long sectors, our Dash 8s accumulate fewer cycles than those of other operators, allowing them to stay in service longer. We are also working with the government on plans to extend Greenland’s runways, the only long-term solution for replacing the Dash 8.

For international routes, we rely on our A330 as the backbone of the fleet while supplementing service with ACMI operators. As our network expands and reaches sustainable demand levels, we are planning to add another aircraft—a narrowbody A320neo.

Are the people of Greenland worried about the challenges that increased tourism could bring? Sustainability in Greenland’s tourism sector is a top priority, and it’s something that everyone in the country takes seriously. This commitment is reflected in the newly passed tourism act, which establishes a zonal system to regulate where cruise ships can and cannot go. The goal is to manage visitor impact while preserving Greenland’s delicate environment. Everyone here is very conscious about not becoming a mass tourist destination, because both the nature and the ecology here is very fragile.

Greenland has received significant global attention following U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about the U.S. potentially acquiring the territory from Denmark. Is this having implications for the travel and tourism sector? Our national tourism organization has seen an increase in website traffic, but it’s still too early to determine if that translates into actual ticket sales. At this point, we haven’t observed a direct impact on bookings. That said, there’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. More people are aware of and interested in Greenland now than they were previously, and that increased visibility can only be positive in the long run. Of course, there is some concern about the U.S.’ intentions, but if we can harness the interest in Greenland effectively, it has the potential to drive future growth and opportunities.

Listen to the full, unedited interview with Jacob Nitter Sørensen on the ATW Window Seat podcast.