Direct flight between Nunavut and Greenland sees hundreds of passengers in 1st season

Air Greenland has deemed the first season of direct flight service connecting Iqaluit and Nuuk, Greenland, a success, after more than 800 passengers travelled between the two capitals. 

The airline's 37-passenger Dash 8 landed for the final time of the season on Wednesday; the airline launched the scheduled flight service on June 26. 

According to Air Greenland, passengers filled 70 per cent of available seats through the season. Prior to launching, the company said half of those seats needed to be filled for the service to be viable.

"A lot of happy passengers and a lot of interest for next year and the coming years as well — so definitely a very good start," said Jacob Nitter Sørensen, Air Greenland's CEO. 

The flight was especially popular with Canadian passengers, who occupied more than 70 per cent of seats on the Iqaluit to Nuuk route, and 60 per cent from Nuuk to Iqaluit. 

"One of the reasons is that the market is much bigger, because it's not only people from Iqaluit, it's also people from southern Canada," said Sørensen. 

That's because Canadian North formed a partnership with Air Greenland to offer an additional same-day leg between Iqaluit and Ottawa. 

Cultural connections

The flight service is also helping build cultural connections between regions, according to Sheila Oolayou. She recently helped organize a weeks-long workshop, hosted by Greenland's Kittat Economusée in Nuuk, on the creation of kamik, or traditional sealskin boots.  

Organizers reached out to Nunavut artisans to come share their sewing techniques and knowledge in person. Oolayou is one of the experts who responded, and she says the cultural exchange was made easier thanks to the direct flight. It's the kind of opportunity Nunavummiut have previously said would be possible with an aerial connection. 

The close cultural connections and similarities between regions also struck Qupanuk Olsen, a social media personality from Greenland who flew to Iqaluit for the first time in June. 

"I knew that we were alike, but I didn't know that we were this much alike," she said.

"Our connection to Iqaluit has become much stronger because we see people from Iqaluit in Nuuk much more frequently compared to before."

Somewhat bumpy ride 

The season also faced some turbulent times — most notably when Denmark temporarily revoked Nuuk airport's security authorization. 

The move grounded flights between the two capitals for weeks and left some passengers stranded. 

Despite the delay and four-layover trek to get home to Iqaluit, Naja Pearce said the experience of flying to Greenland was worth it. 

"People there were so wholesome, so kind and so friendly and it just made the experience even better because now I have friends there," she said. 

Air Greenland is already planning next year's season, scheduled to run from April 2 to Oct. 28. In the meantime, Nuuk is expected to cut the ribbon on its new airport on Nov. 28. 

Air Greenland has previously had regular scheduled flights connecting the two capitals, from the late 1980s to 2001, and then again from 2012 to 2014.