Aviation Specials – May 2018

70 // Extreme Airports of the World

Other traffi c

Reykjavík, Iceland, is connected to Ilulissat

by both Air Greenland and Air Iceland

Connect during the summer; both use

Dash 8-Q200s. The former operates to

Kefl avík International, but the la er fl ies as

many as ten trips a week from Reykjavík’s

downtown airport, often carrying tourists

from Asia who split their Nordic holiday

between the two countries.

Locally-based AirZafari also deploys

fi xed-wing Partenavia P.68s on

sightseeing fl ights. The fi rm’s fi ve-seat

aircraft cover several routes across the

ice cap, glaciers and icebergs, taking

between 30 minutes and an hour to

deliver the spectacular experience.

When there are cruise ships in the bay,

these twin-engined light aircraft work

very hard and as many as three can be

in the air concurrently. It is on these

occasions when JAV reaches its peak of

50 movements per day.

The only other aircraft that use

JAV are transiting across the North

Atlantic between North America and

Europe. They generally drop in to either

Narsarsuaq or Kangerlussuaq for fuel,

but a few pilots are now starting to

discover the charms of Ilulissat.

The future

The local tourist board and municipal

authorities have been behind a campaign

to extend the runway at Ilulissat. They

wanted it to be increased to between

7,218ft (2,200m) and 9,186ft (2,800m),

enabling it to support direct international

fl ights from Europe and North America.

They also argued that expansion of

JAV and Nuuk could see the closure

of Kangerlussuaq, which is only used

by airline traffi c because it has a long

runway and is in an area with a very good

weather record.

Finally, at the end of 2015, the

Greenlandic Government made a

commitment to extending the runways

at both Ilulissat and Nuuk to at least

7,218ft (2,200m). It also affi rmed a

commitment to build an entirely new

airport in Qeqertaq, as there are several

population centres nearby. This will

allow Narsarsuaq, an airfi eld built for

the US military, to be closed. However,

Kangerlussuaq has recently experienced

an uptick in foreign tourism and might be

retained, albeit in a lesser role.

Since it gave its initial approval, the

government has selected Danish fi rm

COWI as the principal consultants for the

AIRLINES

Air Greenland

Air Iceland

ILULISSAT

Air Greenland

Sikorsky S-61N

OY-HAG cruises

above the  ord.

66-71_Ilulissat.indd 70 11/05/2018 11:45