Hofmann's recommendations

FLYING IN GREENLAND

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The Airbus A330 at the airport Kangerlussuaq.

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The Airbus A330 at the airport Kangerlussuaq.

Where else can you find that? Flying in an airliner where the cockpit door remains open and there are no security checks at the airport itself?
On domestic flights in Greenland, for example.

Traveling with the Dash 8 fleet within Greenland is an experience. Not only the breathtaking nature is impressive, but also the Air Greenland company itself. Last week in Kangerlussuaq, the island's main airport, the reporter boards the very clean cabin of the turboprop aircraft. The flight attendant is friendly and charming, but you can tell that great importance is attached to safety. While a US Air Force transport plane takes off next to it - the big ones land equipped with skis on paved ice surfaces at various research stations in the middle of the island - our much smaller Dash 8-200 taxis to the runway for a 50-minute hop to the capital Nuuk, with its population of just over 15,000.

Only 56,000 people live in Greenland, with 30,000 visitors a year. And since there are no roads between the main towns, aviation is indispensable. Air Greenland itself is actually a very complex airline. This is necessary in view of the local conditions. It has 22 helicopters, seven Dash 8s and an Airbus A330. The latter not only provides the important connection to Copenhagen, but is also seen as the link that enables the island to function economically.

For the pilots themselves, flying in Greenland is a real challenge. Short runways, harsh weather and few navigational aids require professionals in the cockpits. Only 70 percent of all domestic flights can be completed on time as capricious weather disrupts the flight schedule. "Once winter has settled in, flight operations also stabilize. The most difficult times are the transitional periods at this time of year," says one of the experienced pilots. And for passengers, patience is sometimes a necessity. For example, when the weather in the capital Nuuk is bad and the Airbus to Copenhagen has to wait in Kangerlussuaq for the delayed passengers. It is advisable to simply accept this with Greenlandic composure.

Kurt Hofmann