Celebrations as Greenland’s very own airline turned 50

Greenlandair 1980-89

New aircraft with big wings

Greenland was on the threshold of the 1980s when Nuuk opened the country’s first civil airport with a 950-metre runway and Greenlandair’s new Dash-7 aircraft could touch down on the asphalt. Aviation could now speed up.

The Dash-7 brought new muscle power to the country’s traffic system. The speed was doubled from the helicopters’ 220 kilometres per hour to 450 kilometres per hour. Capacity increased from 25 to 50 passengers in each aircraft – and just as important: It was now possible to fly in all kinds of weather.

Tailor-made for short runways

The price of building runways is exorbitantly high in Greenland’s jagged, mountainous terrain. While the rock was being blasted away to make room for Nuuk’s new airport, the Canadian aircraft company de Havilland was developing an aircraft that had a large cargo capacity and was able to operate on short runways: the Dash-7. Greenlandair was amongst the first customers. With four engines and very big wings, the so-called STOL aircraft (Short Take-Off and Landing) were tailor-made for small runways and long distances in remote regions.

In 1984 Ilulissat also got an airport. The runway here was only 850 metres long, but now the framework was in place for a new structure: the Dash-7 flew the big routes between Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk, Narsarsuaq, Ilulissat and Kulusuk. Helicopters were stationed in these five airports to service each its own big district. All the other towns continued to have only heliports.

Routes to Canada and Iceland

With the introduction of home rule in Greenland in 1979 the desire grew to develop connections to the other side of the Davis Straits – to the Inuit in Canada and Alaska – and two years later Greenlandair opened its first international route to Iqaluit in Canada. For the next 13 years, Greenlandair and the Canadian company First Air flew between Nuuk and Iqaluit with almost empty aircraft. The vision of closer connections with kinsmen in the west was not able to sustain a route when the economic and political channels in both countries were aimed at the south.

In 1981 Greenlandair also opened a route from Kangerlussuaq via Kulusuk to Reykjavik. Three years later it was extended, so the Dash-7 flight continued northwards from Reykjavik to Nerlerit Inaat on the east coast of Greenland

Breached monopoly

Since the beginning of the 60s, SAS had been alone on the route between Greenland and Denmark, flying Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq-Copenhagen several times a week with big jets. In 1986, when Greenlandair in cooperation with Icelandair opened the weekly Narsarsuaq-Keflavik-Copenhagen route, it was the first small breach in the monopoly. Just two years later it was possible to increase the frequency to two weekly flights with the Icelandic Boeing 727.

Many of the old institutions from colonial times were replaced by new, Greenlandic companies in the first years under home rule. Previously, tickets were issued by the Royal Greenland Trading Company. Now, Greenlandair and KNI (owned by the home rule) formed a new company together called Greenland Travel. In Ilulissat, Greenlandair took over Hotel Arctic, which had been built at the same time as the town’s airport and was therefore only a few years old.

100,000 on board!

New types of helicopters came and others were phased out. The number of employees approached 400: Greenlandair had employees all over the country. Each year, new mechanics and traffic assistants were trained and during the 80s the first Greenlandic pilots took charge in the cockpit.

The numbers of passengers grew bigger and bigger. By the mid 80s Greenlandair carried 100,000 passengers each year and before the decade was over, the airline purchased its third big-winged Dash-7.