Celebrations as Greenland’s very own airline turned 50

Air Greenland 2000-09

New name and new colours
- primed for the future

”Air Greenland” – it took a little getting used to, but the aircraft were more stylish than ever, with the red colour and the new logo. And the name soon felt right on the tongue.

When the company changed its name to Air Greenland on April 18th 2002 and came out with a new graphic identity, the purpose was to improve a slightly tarnished reputation, to sharpen the company profile in competition with SAS – and to signal new times. And the new times came faster than anyone had expected.  

SAS capitulates

Six months later, SAS capitulated on the route between Kangerlussuaq and Copenhagen. For decades they had flown alone, but after a few years of intense competition from Air Greenland, the Scandinavian airline threw in the towel. Air Greenland was now on its own flying between Greenland and Denmark – and this required more than one Boeing 757 with poor cargo capacity.

The big red Airbus 330-200 landed for the first time in Kangerlussuaq in November 2002 and passengers between Greenland and Denmark now experienced that Air Greenland was quite able to match service as well as comfort. Although the competition had retired from the route, Air Greenland maintained the low fares that had been a weapon in the fight for the route – and lowered them several times in the years that followed.

New, long routes

The following year, Air Greenland was able to note yet another victory over SAS, when the company won the five year contract with the US Air Force concerning flights to Pituffik (Thule Air Base) and Copenhagen. This contract has since been renewed.

Things did not go quite so well when, in the spring of 2003, Air Greenland opened a route between Akureyri in Iceland and Copenhagen. There were not enough passengers and after flying the route twice a week for six months the route closed. A route between Greenland and USA suffered the same fate in 2007 – after one season, it was obvious that the market was not yet ripe.

The lowest fruits

SAS may well have given up flying all year round between Greenland and Denmark in competition with Air Greenland, but from 2007 the company returned – in the peak season. At the same time Air Iceland opened a route from Reykjavik to Nuuk – and later also to Ilulissat – also only during the busy summer months with high occupancy rates.

Air Greenland trimmed its organisation to suit the new, unequal market terms, took up the fight with cheaper tickets – and continued on all routes, both summer and winter.

30 years with Dash-7

Air Greenland also felt the effects of the new times on domestic routes. At the turn of the millennium, the Greenland Home Rule put the task of flying the unprofitable helicopter routes up for tender – and for a time Air Greenland had to give up helicopter services in the Disko Bay and in East Greenland.

Qaanaaq in the north and Paamiut in the south opened runways in the new millennium and these towns now became destinations on Air Greenland’s vast, domestic route net. The Dash-7 aircraft passed 30 years’ service in 2009 – and now the end is approaching for the flying buses: Air Greenland is getting two new Dash 8 aircraft in spring 2010.

400,000 on board

From spring 2004 passengers were able to buy their tickets online at Air Greenland’s website. Only a few people took advantage of this in the first years, but in 2009 over 30 per cent of all tickets sales took place on the internet.

In the new millennium, the number of passengers again beat all records. In 2007 Air Greenland could welcome aboard more than 400,000 passengers and the number has increased since then.

The number of employees in 2009 was more than 650 – and 29 young people were trainees at Air Greenland.