Greenland is having its moment. As Greenland prepares for the opening of its new airport in Nuuk, carriers are adding service. Today, SAS announced it too would begin flying to Nuuk in 2025, adding direct competition to Greenland’s lifeline to Denmark.
SAS Will Add Seasonal Service To Nuuk, Greenland In 2025
Greenland, the vast autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, has been sheltered from the world for many years thanks to the size of its airports. Other than widebody service from Copenhagen on an Air Greenland A330, turboprops are utilized thanks to small domestic airports and
Starting June 27, 2025, SAS will offer direct flights from Copenhagen (CPH) to Nuuk, Greenland (GOH), marking the return of SAS to Greenland after more than 20 years.
The new route will operate during the summer season three times per week:
| Departure | Flight | Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| CPH | SK 1294 | 09:00 | 09:00 | 12:15 |
| GOH | SK 1293 | 11:05 | 11:05 | 14:20 |
Anko van der Werff, President and CEO of SAS cites rising demand for the latest route addition:
“We’re thrilled to enhance connectivity between Greenland, Scandinavia and destinations worldwide through our SkyTeam alliance. This new route meets the rising demand for unique, adventurous travel experiences, while reinforcing Copenhagen’s position as a key hub for Scandinavian connections worldwide.”
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SAS already partners with Air Greenland, but the new service will add capacity and hopefully lower fares.
My question is whether the infrastructure in Nuuk, Ilulissat, and other cities in Greenland can handle what may be a sudden influx of tourism.
Earlier this month, United Airlines announced it would add service from its Newark, New Jersey (EWR) hub to Nuuk starting next year utilizing a Boeing 737-800 jet.
> Read More: United Airlines Adds Service To Mongolia, Greenland, Senegal, And More
CONCLUSION
SAS is the latest carrier to announce service to Greenland in 2025. Flights will operate three times per week, seasonally, between Copenhagen and Nuuk.
I am planning a trip to Greenland myself and with all the new flight options, I am excited about the possibilities. More on that in a future post, though I do intend to fly the Air Greenland A330-800neo.
image: SAS
Just what everyplace needs : mobs of tourists , inflation pricing out the locals , and mobs of off-shore hotel companies paying low wages . Sure , it’s good for the airlines , but that is all it’s good for .
Greenland wants to diversify its economy. Can’t blame them for wanting more tourists.
I wager only the smooth operators who stand to make a buck , and then escape Greenland want it .
In the long run , the regular people will be sorry .
Tourism provides job opportunities for women especially, and I am sure Greenland is a bit like the Faroe Islands in wanting to do what it can to keep the local womenfolk happy with work locally and this not as eager to decamp to Scandinavia and elsewhere in continental Europe where they then go on to settle and have kids while their homeland ends up with disproportionately more aged folk, single men and less educated on average because of migration out by educated women seeking more comfortable economic prospects and more diverse recreational options.
@GU … I do respect your rational approach to the issue , even as I respect Camel-a’s insistence that she did indeed work at a McDonalds .
Camel-a had to claim at least one previous employment , since , other than McDonalds , she has never worked a real job during her life .
I do take issue with your suggestion the Greenland women might be overjoyed working at an off-shore-owned McDonalds , or making beds in an off-shore-owned hotel , for pittance wages far below the resulting inflation which a tourist industry will cause .
I think a lot of people would be happy to stay or return home if there are more opportunities for them beside the traditional industries that keep the place humming. And the Greenlanders who reside in continental Europe will appreciate another option to get to and from their homeland since Air Greenland has such a limited network. Also the Danish government wants to have semi-autonomous Greenland remain integrated with it and not get pulled and pushed by great powers, so partially-Danish-government-owned SAS makes sense for its government investor too.
Greenland can’t handle a tourist boom like Iceland could. Greenland is going to need these flights to fly in goods to keep itinerant visitors supplied. 😀
Here is Greenland’s own analysis of its tourism capacity:
https://tourismstat.gl/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GRL-Kapacitetsanalyse-for-Nuuk-2025-2030.pdf
I will get a local Greenlander to tell me what it says. 😀
“My question is whether the infrastructure in Nuuk, Ilulissat, and other cities in Greenland can handle what may be a sudden influx of tourism.” Bingo!!! And that will destroy the place. Lots of airlines are now serving Iceland which became “the place to go” for tourists. Cheap flights from MSP or example (Delta and Icelandair) have brought tons of people I know there. Many reported that places are dirty and it is becoming messy. Interesting that Delta added MSP-CPH non stop flights so I guess people will also use SAS to go to Greenland. I hope they keep this place intact.
@Santastico … +1 . Exactly .
I was in Nuuk during the height of tourism season this year, and I didn’t see a single tourist. I think what many people don’t realize is how well developed Nuuk (and really Greenland as a whole) is. Most people staying at the hotel are business travelers. There are large Scandinavian and Icelandic grocery stores, and shipping is a huge industry. There are also several large infrastructure projects going on, not just the airport.
I think the SAS flight might serve as an alternative for the business clientele traveling to Greenland. As it stood, GL couldn’t really get you beyond CPH, and connecting in KEF wasn’t an attractive option due to the LONG trek on the prop.
There are indeed a lot of business travelers — relatively speaking — going between Copenhagen and Greenland. The US also sends a fair amount of supplies and contractors to Greenland via Copenhagen — including for purposes of supporting USG/military personnel in Greenland.
Air Greenland is probably again going to be cheaper than SAS on the route on which Air Greenland has a bigger plane on the route than SAS will use. I am more interested in how the airline loyalty programs price/categorize travel to/from Greenland.
“My question is whether the infrastructure in Nuuk, Ilulissat, and other cities in Greenland can handle what may be a sudden influx of tourism.”
The majority of flights aren’t starting till March 2025 or after that, so maybe they will wisely use that time to prepare.
There’s only so much capacity to ramp up building over the next several months, so I expect the prices to rise for services basic to tourism. Nuuk/GOD is entirely walkable as the small city it is (what is it now, 19k people in a nation of maybe 70k?). But as said above, it’s not a place of interest to stay for several days. Then it’s boats or other means to get around Greenland to see stuff beyond Nuuk.
“There goes the neighborhood.”