Greenland’s Second Gateway
From 29 October, Ilulissat's new airport puts Disko Bay one flight from Copenhagen. Here's what changes for Greenland itineraries, and which towns still need an overnight stop.
For most of Greenland’s tourism history, getting to Disko Bay meant two flights: Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq, an old US airbase on a fjord inland, and then a turboprop up the coast. Nuuk’s new runway, opened in 2024, added a second route in. Neither put travellers down where most of them wanted to be.
That changes on 29 October, when Greenland Airports opens Ilulissat’s new airport and Air Greenland flies the first direct service from Copenhagen. For the first time, the Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland’s best-known sight, is one flight from Europe.
What’s arriving
Ilulissat sits on Greenland’s west coast, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle. The Icefjord beside the town, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2004, is fed by Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the world’s fastest and most active glaciers. It moves about 19 m a day and calves more than 35 cubic km of ice a year, roughly a tenth of all Greenland’s calf ice, according to the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces.
The schedule Air Greenland has published for winter 2026–27:
- Opening flight: Thursday, 29 October, on the A330neo Tuukkaq.
- Regular service: weekly on Wednesdays, flown by Jettime on a 180-seat Boeing 737-800 until Air Greenland’s A320neo arrives in spring 2027.
- Peak frequency: Mondays and Wednesdays over Christmas and New Year, and 1–27 March 2027.
The new map of Disko Bay
Ilulissat becomes the hub for the north. Air Greenland’s timetable spells out which towns can now be reached the same day from Copenhagen, and which can’t:
| Destination | From Copenhagen |
|---|---|
| Ilulissat | Direct, Wednesdays (plus Mondays at peak) |
| Aasiaat | Same-day connection on Wednesdays |
| Uummannaq / Qaarsut | Same-day connection on Mondays, from 1 March |
| Upernavik | Same-day on Wednesdays northbound; overnight in Ilulissat southbound |
| Qaanaaq | No same-day connection; overnight in Ilulissat both ways |
The practical effect: Ilulissat will host more first and last nights. Properties there gain overnight stays from travellers heading further north, and towns such as Uummannaq and Upernavik become easier add-ons to a Disko Bay stay.
What hasn’t changed
One direct flight a week is still a thin line. Weather in the Arctic can delay or cancel flights, and the 737 serving the route until spring has 180 seats. Capacity, not demand, will set the limit this winter.
Sources
- Air Greenland, New winter flight schedule 2026 for Ilulissat, 24 Feb 2026
- Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces, Ilulissat Icefjord World Heritage site
- Greenland Airports, Airport opening dates for Qaqortoq and Ilulissat airports, 26 Nov 2025
Where to stay near Ilulissat
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Read next · NewsIlulissat Gets a Direct Line to Copenhagen1 min →
Andrew Lovesey is Editor-in-Chief of Not An Atlas, and always on the hunt for the next big thing: where to go, where to stay and what's worth the photo. His first trip was to the family cottage in Prince Edward Island, all rolling hills, red sand cliffs and jellyfish drifting in the North Atlantic. He'll sit anywhere but the middle seat (no armrest wars), never flies without the adapter that lets his AirPods play the in-flight movie, and has eaten at a McDonald's in every country he's visited. Iceland gets a pass because it doesn't have one. He once learned to bead earrings from Aleqa Hammond, Greenland's first female premier, on a ship in the Northwest Passage, and will tell anyone who'll listen that Cincinnati is wildly underrated. Friends say charming, driven and loyal. His mum says persuasive. Next stop: Greece.
