Greenland's famous "City of Icebergs" no longer requires a complicated multi-leg journey. Ilulissat, the Arctic island's third-largest town, has a brand-new international airport, and the first Copenhagen flight landed there this week after a 4.5-hour hop aboard an Air Greenland Airbus A330neo with 168 passengers — including the Greenlandic prime minister himself.
It's a bigger deal than it might sound. Until now, reaching Ilulissat meant arriving by cruise ship, taking a small plane from Iceland, or connecting through one of Greenland's old US-built airfields at Kangerlussuaq or Narsarsuaq. There are no roads linking the towns, so flying was the only realistic option. Nuuk got its own international airport in late 2024, and United Airlines launched a seasonal Newark route soon after. Ilulissat is the second piece of that puzzle.
The new facility has a 5,000-square-metre terminal and a 2,200-metre runway capable of handling large jets. Air Greenland plans up to six weekly Copenhagen flights next summer, Icelandair will fly in from Keflavik, and Greenland Airports says it's courting US and mainland European carriers too.
Why the push? Greenland has around 56,000 people and an economy heavily reliant on fishing. Tourism is the growth industry — international arrivals are up at least 65% since 2018, hitting nearly 150,000 in 2024 — but it still accounts for under 5% of GDP. The government in Nuuk, led by PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen, sees tourism as a stepping stone toward eventual independence from Denmark, which is why he called the airport one of the biggest investments in the island's history.
There's political noise in the background, of course. Trump's repeated interest in acquiring Greenland caused months of friction, and a Danish minister aboard the inaugural flight called the airport a symbol of "hope and optimism" after that shadow. An Arctic tourism academic noted some Americans cancelled trips over the standoff, worried they might not be welcome — though many still visit, mostly by cruise ship.
What's actually there for travellers? Ilulissat sits on Greenland's west coast, 550km north of Nuuk, with around 5,000 residents. The draw is the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site where enormous icebergs calve off the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier and drift into Disko Bay. Typical activities include icefjord boat cruises, dog sledding, and hiking along the marked trails by the ice. It's one of the best places on Earth to watch a glacier actively shedding ice into the sea.
Two caveats worth knowing. Hotel capacity is limited, so the expected boom hasn't fully arrived yet — book accommodation well ahead, especially for summer. And locals are split on growth: as one former regional mayor put it, tourism brings money, but the fragile environment and small population could be overwhelmed. Greenlanders want respectful visitors, not crowds.
For anyone who's had the iceberg city on their list but balked at the logistics, the barrier just dropped significantly. Direct from Copenhagen, easy connections via Reykjavik, and a proper terminal waiting at the other end.
