The airport is located north-east of Ilulissat, just 2.8 kilometres (1.7mi) of city centre. It was built in 1984,[3] replacing the heliport.[3]Air Greenland uses the airport as a domestic hub for northern Greenland.
A major expansion of the airport, including a new, longer runway and a new terminal, is ongoing and is slated for completion in 2026, which will allow larger jet aircraft to serve more international destinations.[4]
The government began building a network of short take-off and landing (STOL) airports in Greenland to improve connectivity, partially funded by the EUStructural Funds and Cohesion Fund. Ilulissat Airport opened on 29 September 1984,[5] preceded by Nuuk Airport in 1979, replacing earlier heliports. Fixed wing flights using De Havilland Canada Dash 7 fixed-wing aircraft to the capital, Nuuk were now possible. Ilulissat and it became Air Greenland's northern base in Greenland, serving helicopter traffic further north and eventually more fixed-wing flights as airports such as Qaanaaq and Qaarsut and Upernavik opened in the 1990s.[6]
Airport expansion
Airport terminalInside the terminalPlan of airport expansion. New runway is drawn in red.
The purpose of Ilulissat Airport has been debated in Greenland for decades; there has been pressure for runway extension from the local tourist industry and municipal authorities.[7]
As of 2024, a new airport is under construction and was due to be completed by 2024, but delays have pushed completion to 2026.[8][4] The expansion of the airport will feature a 2,200m ×60m (7,218ft ×197ft)[9] runway to let the airport receive direct international airliner flights from mainland Europe and the Americas.[10][11] It will be located just north of the present airport.[12] The Nuuk and Ilulissat airport expansions have been subsidized with DKK 1.6 billion by the Government of Denmark. In 2025, the expansion was over budget, and needed a further DKK 400 million subsidy from the Government of Denmark, and a loan extension of DKK 1140 million.[13]
There is a general debate on extending or replacing most airports in Greenland, since most are either ill-located former air bases, or very short.
Icelandair (then domestically branded as Air Iceland), began twice-weekly flights to Reykjavík-Keflavík in 2009 using Dash 8 aircraft. As of 2025, it continues to be the only international route to Ilullissat.[20]
Air Greenland operates government contract flights to villages in the Disko Bay area. These mostly cargo flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked.[21] Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day. Settlement flights in the Disko Bay and Aasiaat archipelago areas are operated only during winter and spring. During summer and autumn, communication between settlements is by sea only, serviced by Diskoline.[22]
Accidents and incidents
On 29 January 2014, a De Havilland DHC-8 operated by Air Greenland (Flight 3205) suffered substantial damage in a landing accident. On landing, the left main gear collapsed and the plane skidded down a slope and came to a rest near the perimeter fence. This caused three injuries, not serious, and the aircraft was scrapped. The cause was a pilot error in difficult wind conditions.[23]
↑ "BGJN – Ilulissat"(xls). AIP Denmark. Copenhagen: Trafikstyrelsen/Danish Transport Authority. 28 June 2012. part AD 2 – BGJN. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
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