Americans Think They’re Ready for Greenland. It’s Not Ready for Them.
New flights from the U.S. have made Greenland more accessible than ever.
Getting to Greenland is easy now. After that, all bets are off.
Greenland has been trying to attract more tourists, and its push paid dividends this summer. New flights from the U.S. made the Arctic island more accessible than ever. Geopolitical intrigue fueled curiosity. Greenland saw a 16% increase in international air passengers this year through July.
First-time visitors have been awestruck by pristine fjords and magnificent glaciers, gushing over stunning, untouched landscape. But they’ve also returned with some advice for would-be travelers: Set aside a few buffer days after your scheduled return. Actually, make it a week. And buy travel insurance.
Hotels are packed. Getting from one city to another requires a trip on a small plane or boat, as roads are scarce. Travelers have spent nights sleeping in the airport lounge. Nuuk’s new airport has been so understaffed that it sparked rumors all the screeners went hunting. Locals warn visitors that the island runs on GMT, or Greenland Maybe Time.
Babu Paruchuri and his family visited in August. They were boarding a whale safari boat tour when they learned their flight the following day had been canceled. Danish officials had shut down international flights from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, because its training for passenger security screening wasn’t up to snuff.
Babu Paruchuri, who visited with his family in August, thinks Greenland’s not quite ready for “the big time.’
Paruchuri scrambled to find a new route home and lock down one of Nuuk’s roughly 580 hotel rooms. A United Airlines flight bound for Greenland turned around in midair to avoid stranding even more people.
International flights resumed a couple of days later, when Denmark sent additional staff.
“I thought it sounded cool to go somewhere off the beaten path. Do some whale watching, see some glaciers, things like that,” Paruchuri said. “But I think it’s better to let things play out for a few years to make sure the place you’re visiting is accustomed to it.”
“I don’t think they’re quite ready for the big time yet.”
When Anthony Guglielmo arrived at that airport for his flight home in early August, airport security was closed. Rumors swirled that screeners didn’t show up because it was the start of reindeer hunting season. The story took off on travel blogs and social media.
Greenland’s airport authority called the reports “pure fabrication” and said staff shortages are the result of a lengthy security clearance process and higher traffic as the airport is still adjusting to being a busy international gateway. “It has absolutely nothing to do with reindeer hunting,” a spokesman said.
Weather conditions this year have been particularly awful, with frequent high winds and fog disrupting traffic at the Nuuk airport.
Greenland saw a 16% increase in international air passengers this year through July.
There have been other problems. Weather conditions this year have been particularly awful, with frequent high winds and fog disrupting traffic at the Nuuk airport.
Air Greenland’s customer service representatives have been so inundated with calls that executives curtailed their hours to alleviate pressure.
The biggest issues arise when planes land and then can’t get out, said Jacob Nitter Sørensen, chief executive of Air Greenland.
“Then it will be sort of a zero-sum game in terms of accommodation,” he said.
Greenland’s cities are largely not connected by road, so finding another hotel isn’t as simple as driving to the next town. Air Greenland has turned airport meeting rooms and a lounge into make-shift sleeping areas with mattresses. It has hired a local ferry to house passengers.
“The ferry is nice—there’s cabins and it’s a bed,” Nitter said. And there are new hotels coming to help ease that bottleneck.
When Anthony Guglielmo arrived at that airport for his flight home in August, airport security was closed.
When Sam Nia and his wife arrived at their hotel in Nuuk, they were welcomed into a confederacy of stranded tourists whose flights had been unable to get out for days. Fellow travelers were eager to share their horror stories and warned the couple they’d never make their flight to Copenhagen a few days later.
“It felt like those ’90s ‘Home Alone’-type movies where everyone is stuck in the airport together,” Nia said. “Everyone had this bit of a stir-crazy cabin-fever vibe going.”
Nia said their flight worked out fine and they were charmed by Nuuk.
“It’s so fresh and gorgeous,” he said. “How close to Orlando does anyone want it to be? I personally don’t.”
Tourism officials acknowledge there have been growing pains.
The new United flight has brought a crop of last-minute bookers who don’t always know what they’re getting into and are quick to call travel agents with complaints.
Upsides include drinking clear water straight from streams and stunning views with nobody in sight.
Some visitors have to adjust their mindset in a country where nature is often in charge.
Some visitors have to adjust their mindset in a country where nature is often in charge. One of the new “brand narratives” that Visit Greenland adopted this year as it markets the country to the rest of the world: “Everything is going to be alright.” Translation? Relax.
Patrick Quayle, who heads global network planning at United, said the airline also had to learn to expect the unexpected in its inaugural summer. Hurricane-force winds forced one flight to divert. Air Greenland staff helped out when winds picked up, pointing a United jet on the ground into the wind so it wouldn’t sustain damage.
People heading to Greenland now are on the “cutting edge of travel,” Quayle said. There are upsides: drinking clear water straight from streams, swimming with icebergs with nobody else in sight. But if you’re hoping for the St. Regis or the Four Seasons, keep looking.
“You’re going to a place where it just does not have tourism,” he said. “There’s also some teething issues with that.”
United plans to return for a second summer next year.
