A growing demand for connections to Greenland – including tourism – has helped get weekly direct flights between Iqaluit and Nuuk off the ground this summer. But concerns remain about the sustainability of the flight to the Greenland’s largest city from Canada, which was cancelled in 2015 due to low ridership.
People such as Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador to Denmark, and Hanne Fugl Eskjaer, the Danish ambassador to Canada, have described the benefits the flights – fed in partnership with Canadian North – will provide by bridging the geographical gap between Greenland and Nunavut.
Air Greenland’s board chairperson Malik Hegelund Olsen adds, “the need of having more connection in between was important, and we have seen [an increasing] need for that connection, both cultural with art or business or education. The connection for tourism and leisure between those countries will be some of the business.”
Iqaluit Coun. Romeyn Stevenson, who has family in Greenland, said having direct flights to and from Iqaluit will make travel more accessible. However, he believes Air Greenland and Canadian North need to market the flights to North American and European travellers to help ensure the flights’ survival.
“That’s the amount of numbers and the clientele that will keep this open indefinitely, as opposed to for a short period of time while they’re trying it out,” Stevenson said of the need to appeal to a larger market, in an interview with Nunatsiaq News.
“I really do think that there needs to be some work to market that as a real possibility for people who want to get a real taste of the Arctic and also make use of an interesting route that takes them to Europe in a fairly timely fashion.”
Olsen said that’s part of the plan.
He said the partnership between Air Greenland and Canadian North will help connect Nuuk to some of Canadian North’s southern destinations, such as Ottawa.
On top of that, Olsen said tourism is growing in Nuuk, especially now that the Greenland capital’s new airport terminal has opened and begun accepting travellers as it nears its completion.
“We are hoping and expecting that there will be a growth in tourism, both in Nuuk and Ilulissat [the country’s third-largest city] and hopefully also other parts in Greenland,” he said.
“I think the plan of opening this route is something that will support that development, so we have great expectations on developing Greenland as a whole country as a tourist destination.”