International flights have been suspended at Nuuk, Greenland (GOH | BGGH) after Danish authorities halted international passenger screening on 26 August. The airports authority says it was informed by Danish transport authorities that “the supplementary training of staff responsible for screening international travelers does not fully meet current requirements.” Domestic flights remain unaffected.
United Airlines flight 80 was forced to turn around about half way between Newark and Nuuk on 25 August and SAS flight SK1294 has been canceled for 27 August.
Regarding the resumption of passenger screening, the airports authority says, “We are working intensively with The Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority to address the specific issues that have been identified in the training. The goal is to restore normal operations for international traffic as quickly as possible.
“In the near future, travelers departing Greenland on certain routes may undergo security screening in Kangerlussuaq or Narsarsuaq.”
This interruption in international traffic caps an eventful August in Nuuk, as the United flight from Nuuk to Newark was delayed for more than three hours on 3 August when airport staff were unavailable due to reindeer hunting season. The flight, which is scheduled to depart at 09:00 local time eventually departed at 12:13.
United, for its part, announced this week it will offer the Newark-Nuuk flight again during the 2026 summer season.
Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, only recently took over as the international hub for the island. Before 28 November 2024, international travel to Greenland moved through Kangerlussuaq (SFJ | BGSF) to the north. International jet flights moved to Nuuk after the opening of the airport’s new terminal and longer 2200 meter runway. Regular traffic now includes Air Greenland’s A330neo as well as seasonal flights by United Airlines, SAS, Icelandair, and others.
Nuuk reopens to international traffic
Greenland Airports says security personnel from two Danish airports have arrived in Greenland in time to resume international passenger flights on 28 August. The airports authority also states “arrangements are being implemented over the coming days to ensure that Nuuk’s own Security staff can quickly return to full operational duties.”
15 Responses
Loved watching that video
Want to add to this article that a similar delay happened 11th Aug for flight SK1293 från Nuuk to Copenhagen. I was on board it and we departed 3,5h late, the whole incident was kinda strange.
We checked in at 12:30 pm for our 2 pm flight, cleared security by 1 pm and had lunch in the airside gate café. Around 1:45 pm we went over to the gate and there was no staff at all, the aircraft landed on time and all arriving passengers got off without any hiccups. Departure time passed, and no info was given, not even on the screens. Not until 2:35 pm the SAS App notify us about a delay with the new departure at 3:15 pm meaning the boarding should start within 10 minutes according to the app.
That time passed and at 3:05 pm an announcement on the airport speakers was made announcing that all passengers traveling on the flight to Copenhagen with SAS needs to leave the gate area and go to the check in counters again. I breifly heard the word “airside contamination” in the announcement understanding that something has been found that should be in the airside area. Finally the entire airside was evacuated and security controll closed.
We had to wait about 90 min without any information then at 4:30 pm the security once opened and at the same time the SAS app pushed for boarding. At the security it was basically 95% of all bags that went out for “secondary checks” so you can image how long it took to get 175-185 passengers pass to the gate…. Finally at 5:10 pm I boarded and the captain words to the passengers was “We are sorry for this extensive delay, it’s unfortunately due to the lack of quality of safety from the Greenland airport authority”.
We took of 5:40 pm and arrived into Copenhagen at 00:40 am, 3 hours late and obviously everyone with connections had to stay at hotels (aprox 120 passengers).
SAME! took the same exact flight on 8/13. there was also the large Air Greenland A330 that departed at that time as scheduled but our SAS flight was delayed as they forced all passengers out of the terminal back out into the ticket area. zero.. ZERO announcements were made until they reopened the security check gate and we didnt use the 4 automated boarding pass scan gates but rather a SINGLE employee cross-checking our passport names with our boarding passes. honestly Denmark this is not how you want to showcase your colony to the world. im just super grateful I got there and got out. was great for a day but not worth the huge hassle and costs
Grenland Airports is Owen by Greenland and the Greenlandic Homerule. All responsibility is pure Greenlandic. Sorry
Greenland is self governing, not a colony in the sense you mean ( they, independently from Denmark, left the EU too) so the airports are the Greenland government operations. It seems that the airlines have found the delays un acceptable as well and that’s why Greenland has now called in assistance from Copenhagen
Guys we waited once for 11 days for an Air Greenland flight. This is Arctic.
Reindeer hunting season. The best excuse ever for not going to work. Somethings are more important in Greenland than landing planes with silly tourists in them. They have their priorities right!
Reminds me of Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Of course all of the security staff couldn’t work because it was Reindeer season.
Amen to that.
Nuuk, nuuk, nuuk, why coitinly!
Funny : )
At 75 years old that still makes me laugh.
Welcome to Greenland 😉
Extra screening.. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Danish secret service report. They have identified a number of Americans provocateurs engaged in undermining Danish Sovereignty.
I can’t help imagining that there were sufficient numbers of USA citizens on the affected services to convince Denmark/Greenland into following the model employed by Immigration Services in the USA.
This only confirms my belief that Norse people in general are particularly polite, despite the current geopolitical wobbles.