The World's Strangest International Airport - Kangerlussuaq, Greenland (Cultural Travel Guide)
Kangerlussuaq has a fascinating history and an uncertain future. The former US airbase of Sondrestrom is currently the hub of Air Greenland's network and the only airport in the country that can accommodate the Airbus A330 that flies the daily lifeline link to Copenhagen. A small town of around 500 people services the airport, far from the major urban centres of Greenland. Local tour operators provide options for transiting passengers that include searching for musk oxen and driving to the ice cap. However, all that is about to change as new international airports are scheduled to open in Nuuk and Ilulissat in 2024. The future for Kangerlussuaq's airport and, more importantly, for its residents, is very much in doubt.
Filmed September 2022
Jonathan Wheeler
www.travelobscurer.com
#visitgreenland #kangerlussuaq
#grønland #kalaallitnunaat
#greenland #airgreenland
#sondrestrom #airports
Music licensed through Artlist
If Ryanair could use the airport they'd call it Copenhagen West.
Very good!!
LOL 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@GeoMeridium IDK about that. Air travel aint exactly sustainable either. But IF you wanna be that guy, Copenhagens airport is one of the closest to its city centre out of any country in the world. The downtown is just 15 minutes away via either regional train or Metro. Both take the same amount of time and cost the same. Its only about 7 kilometers from downtown to the terminal.
😂
you are a menace to society *rofl*
Grew up there in the 80ies, when the americans were still there. Very special place, hope it survives, but am looking forward to travel directly to Nuuk and not wait for hours in Sondy...
I bet it was an interesting place to be in the 1980s!
Kangerlussuaq doesn’t have the largest road net anymore. Nuuk does, but you still can’t drive between the different towns in Greenland. Only way to travel is by boat or by air. Kangerlussuaq will probably stay open for a number of years yet. The runway is considered an alternative runway if the jet can’t land in Nuuk or Ilulissat. It is also used by the Danish Air Force and while the Americans may have currently “mothballed” it, it wouldn’t take much for them to come back and reopen it, it they wanted it.
Dang y'all are a colony huh
Very interesting, I didn't realize Nuuk has more now. Although definitely still a large road for Greenland. I was there in 2018 and took a couple of tours. Highly recommended for anyone who has a stopover (if they have enough time, of course). I was there at the very end of August and saw all the Autumn colors :). But also snowfall at the Ice Sheet. Many different locations visited. I loved those tours and would love to return.
My relative was stationed there in the 2000s! Can’t remember exact year! Owned by Denmark!
Something very special in greenland is that there are no trees.
TORBEN IS SUCH A NICE GUY!!!! when i was in Kangerlussuaq in August, I stayed the night with him in his apartment, we went driving around the area and had a nice time
Agreed. Such a friendly chap.
My older brother was stationed at the AFB there in the 1960s. He had a desk job.
Fun fact: Kangerlussuaq has the only non-tundra climate on Greenland outside of Qinngua valley, where a small forest is situated. This combined with the sheltered location deep in the fjord probably helps keeping the aeroport open year-round.
Some warming has just nudged average July, August temperature above the 10°C isotherm and therefore a temperate Climate? Maybe they should move the capital here.
I saw a video of Narsarsuaq where they have a small forest and apparently even some small scale honey production. The trees seemed to be flourishing.
Yep it averages above 50F in summer meaning it can support trees. Kangerlussaq Jul record high: 79.9F Jul avg high: 62.2F Jul daily avg: 52.2F Jul avg low: 41.0F Jul record low: 30.7F And I also found a young fir tree on Google street view maps.app.goo.gl/e1WWbwmQwUz4WR1TA?g_st=ic And found even more outside of town, seems like global warming is going to turn this region into a forest pretty soon! maps.app.goo.gl/wNxx4PvTbWKtQqct5?g_st=ic
I've been to this airport in 2017, bringing in spare parts for our aircraft. Amazing experience, would never have gotten to Greenland on my own!
Spent a month there last year on a military exercise was a beautiful experience.
I was there in 1974. Back then, you couldn`t fly to the other towns in Greenland, but had to fly in a helicopter to get there. I`ve never forgotten the flight to Greenland which was so horrible, that my Grandmother canceled our original tickets home, and booked new ones with SAS instead, and the flight home was just perfect............❤
If you think this is a strange international airport, try Kulusuk, also in Greenland. For baggage claim, you wait outside for a front loader to dump all the bags on the ground. That’s because the “terminal “ is a single room with space for a single plane-load worth of passengers. So, departing passengers wait inside while arriving passengers go in one door and out the other one to await the bags. Pray it isn’t raining when you get there!
I've had a short stopover in Kulusuk. It really does feel like an airport at the end of the world!
I've been to one in the U.S. like that, in Bullhead City, AZ. One runway, bags in a pile outside. When flights leave, the line is out the building and around the corner. 😅
Hahaha, I know of the existence of both of these airports from Flight Simulator X when I was circumnavigating the Earth by Spitfire and had a low fuel range :D
Reminds me of Woodlands Train Checkpoint on Singapore's side of its Causeway border crossing to Malaysia, which serves international trains from Malaysia, but I heard its immigration hall lacks separation between arriving & departing passengers, so the station's can't handle both of them at the same time
This fits the description of the airport at Cocos Keeling Islands, Indian Ocean. The Shire of Cocos Keeling Islands is part of Australia's Indian Ocean Territories. It has two passenger flights from Perth each week plus freight flights.
Looks amazing and very interesting.
I wish the best for Kangerlussuag. Greetings from Czechia🇨🇿🇬🇱
I wish the best for Kangerlussuaq greetings from Norway🇳🇴❤️🇬🇱
Jeg elsker Grønland
Wonderful video. As a Dane: ThankYou!!!!,.....
I was an Explorer Scout in the mid 70's and had the opportunity to visit Sondrestrom and Thule - not once, but twice! We traveled on a military cargo ship (USNS Pvt. John R. Towle) that delivered supplies to both bases in July and August '74 and '75. We hiked through the hills surrounding the towns and walked on the glacier. There isn't enough space here to describe how beautiful Greenland is. But your video certainly encourages me to figure out how to go back. How I hope Sondrestrom survives. Perhaps tourism is the answer.
If only you'd had a film camera on those trips Tom - what an incredible experience that must have been! The urban landscape of Sondrestrom won't have changed very much.
@@TravelObscurer I did actually. I shot hundreds of pictures!
@@tomcaine752any possibility you could make a picture collage on your channel?
@@zenshy2139 Possibly. All of the pictures need to be scanned. I have a few hundred. It's on my list to do. It's going to take a while. I've been wanting to do it for a while.
Thanks for that video. Both the local and Danish man had a pleasant energy to them. Cheered me up.
Can't imagine much police activity, no locked doors, I bet.😊 🇬🇧👍
Kangerlussuaq, easy for you to say!
I stopped there twice while ferrying light aircraft from the US to Europe or vice-versa. I remember going for a walk on a never finishing Greenland summer evening, and stumbling upon a herd of wild muskoxen... impressive!
You were lucky. I've now been four times and still not seen any musk oxen!
@@TravelObscurer I was lucky indeed! When I saw them, it was August 1991. Maybe, human activities around the base have developed since that time, and the herd moved further away? I asked locals were I could find them, hiked in that direction... and stumbled upon them alright! On the same hike, I also saw a couple of reindeer skeletons... a testimony of the harsh winter, I guess.
A fun place to visit. The locals were very nice.
I remember this place well. The first time in 1997, I arrived by ship and flew back to Ottawa. The second time, a few years later, I flew there from Iqaluit on First Air. I was there for 2 days and knew the settlement inside out! I then returned to Iqaluit. Fine memories!
It's a nice place actually. I visited some years ago. The most impressive about the airport was the flight over the Greenland ice. Very beautiful and H U G E!
Pased through in 1970 on way to Kulusuk. Watched the delightful film 'Ballad of Cabel Hogue' in the air force cinema.
Great, another remote place you thought you could cruise along alone nicely only to find out it becoming overcrowded with tourists.
Visited here and Thule during a 1982 Icebreaker deployment onboard U.S.C.G.Cutter Northwind ...WAGB 282... Semper Paratus
I was in Kangerlussuaq in February of 2023, but only for two nights before heading to Ilulissat. I hope that the town survives when the new airports open up.
I don't know why but as a resident of sub-tropical Australia I find Greenland and indeed the rest of the frozen north fascinating. Thanks for that insight into Kangerlussuaq. I regularly watch the airport cams at Nuuk but didn't know why there were so many flights to Kangerlussuaq until now.
Thank you David. Ironically I'm currently in Tasmania which is as cold today as I was when shooting the Kangerlussuaq film!
I'm from northern NSW and I now live in Sisimiut, Greenland. Was fascinated by it for ages, then fell in love with it once I visited. Currently home in Oz for the first time in 3 years (thanks Covid).
@@lisagermany Wow that's an incredible change of environment!
@@TravelObscurer Indeed :) Absolutely love it!
@@lisagermany I too was fascinated, caught s fishing boat from Iceland. Stayed 3 months. Out of 63 countries the Greenlanders have helped me the most. Great memories😅.
Spent a year here 1979-1980, USAF. Very unique, actually a great place to get away from it all.
Air Greenland just received their brand new Airbus A330 NEO.
I visited in the 90 's, l left on Nov12. I sent my warm clothes home. Waited 5 hours for my flight, so i went for a walk. It got so cold, thankfully i got a lift back. Greeting from Australia😅.
So much more than the live cam offers. It should stay operational for the safety of the area.
Thank you for sharing this amazing county and airport.
Short & sweet documentary, thanks for the history lesson.
Much appreciation for making this fantastic video for us to share.The quality is sublime. Greenlandi looks stunningly beautiful. Looking forward to watching new videos on your channel
Thank you. Much appreciated!!
@@TravelObscurer I also wanted to say thanks for this video, as well! I didn't realize the new airports were coming so soon. I was in Kangerlussuaq twice in 2018. Took tours both times. It'd be very sad if those tours are no more come 2024 (due to much less visitors). There's so many beautiful places to easily explore there. Although, one can certainly still go hiking (not easy for everyone, though). More importantly: sad for the community & workers. And as for me there's the wonderful memories! But maybe I'll be able to return someday.
Thank you very much for this impressive Presentation of a Town in Greenland only known as an Airport!👍👍👍
Thank you for the feedback Nicola. Much appreciated!
@@TravelObscurer 🙂
I love this video. Thank you for introducing me to such a fascinating place. And for finding out how to pronounce the name of the town correctly! 🙌🏼
Thank you! Hope you like the rest of the channel.
A well done documentary. Many thanks.
In my airline we cross the North Atlantic frequently. We have to do special training in the simulator to be able to use kangerlussuaq as an emergency diversion airport. I’d love to visit one day (as a passenger, not in an emergency!)
I understand that it's not too challenging in clear weather but the downfall of the airport is fog. I've been stuck there a couple of times with very limited visibility.
@@TravelObscurer yes indeed, it's fairly straight forward when the easterly runway is in use, the training is focused on the westerly runway which has a visual turn over quite high terrain.
what a great video, I am fascinated by your content on greenland
Stationed there, Air Force, 77-78, Air Traffic Control.
Another fascinating revelation for me. Thanks.
Really interesting place, I've been so many times that I start like it!
Great again mate, really share your hope that the community survives
I have fond memories of hanging around here for the better part of a month, with a short time in Sisimiut, in 1998, and again in 2003, though visiting more places on that trip.
Very interesting video. Thank you.
Best scenic airport the world 😍
Decent vid. 👍
Tusen tak!
A very good documentary there are thousands and thousands of places like these all around the globe there are tourists who want to visit and make the most of it sadly not enough is being done to modernise the infrastructure and sadly then people turn away and the local suffers
Craziness!
I would love to visit there. Greetings from Canada.
I (briefly) visited Thule, Greenland when I was in the US Air Force. After 3 days, I was glad to move on.
I'd love to visit Thule (briefly!)
Looks an awful lot like Adak, Alaska and other remote places in AK that people like me were at/going thru for work and such. I do miss the cold. The wind, not so much ;)
I love it
the Airbus A -330 - 800 is a magnificent plane to see there .. . ..
2:50 Well-spotted. Yes, that bus is from Canada. EDIT: Thank you for this. I fear the decision of moving the international airport to Nuuk will mean the death of this community.
I agree, sadly.
@@TravelObscurerthey should really promote trips to see the northern lights here as a way to keep the town alive. Watching the live airport cams all week, the northern lights in Kangerlussuaq are outstanding!! The sky is almost always clear.
that Danish bus driver spoke very good English.
0:50 it's a surveillance radar for the ATC tower 😁
My footage of the other towers and antennae was unusable. That old bus shuddered too much as we were passing!😊
@@TravelObscurer the antennaes are HF antenna for ATC also 👍
Lovely video, watched it 2 time back to back. Just a quick question (no one seems to have asked yet): What are the bits of classical music and whom by? It sounds very beautiful, and I'd like to find and listen to the whole thing, pretty please.
Hi Georg, thanks for the feedback. The music was from an archive on Artlist. Heavens by Itai Argaman I believe.
Been there!
Musk ox are my gre disappointment. They look like giant beast from the pics of my childhood, but they're only about 2ft tall at the shoulder.
Air Greenland has an all-RED paint job 😮
It's to do with the country's flag - but it is ironic though.
Home if my soul 🇬🇱 the video doesn’t justify, usually it’s sunny and calm and 20 in shade during summer but the winters are brutal. Don’t care much for the settlement as such but the nature surrounding it-oh my god !!!
The nature really is incredible! I was there during a late August (back in 2018). The Autumn colors were magical! And by the ice sheet the snow was already falling. Diverse and very beautiful landscapes.
The plans for a road between Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq might save the town seeing how (from what I’ve heard) Sisimiut won’t be getting a new airport anytime soon.
I wonder whether that will ever happen. The cost would be astronomical.
I think it is also the furthest Greenland town from the open sea, some might say, it is even not on the coast at all, since in that place the fjord is classified already as the estuary of a river... also, I believe there were always a small number of international flights to other Greenland communities, mainly to Narsarsuaq International Airport but also, small ATR flights to Iceland Keflavik... the problem always was no large flights to the continent...
You are right, it’s our only place with genuine inland weather, warm during summer and brutally cold in the winter.
Yes there are flights from Keflavik to Nuuk using Dash 8 aircraft with extra fuel tanks for extra range.
Hello, from Frankfurt a. M., Germany.
Nuuk and Ilulissat airports will always have trouble with the weather and therefore flights will inevitably be diverted here. Therefore the airport cannot be closed
That bus driver must work 24 hours a day 😂
Kind of odd seeing one of humanities greatest achievements namely a brand new hyper modern jet airliner in the middle of nowhere
I have seen that a330 in copenhagen
It still seems to be used by the USAF. The airport now has a webcam and the channel has other Greenland airport webcams kzhead.info/sun/l6ttoMZqZ3enfZs/bejne.html
Greenland is beautiful, but I would be so depressed living there. It just doesn't seem like a place to choose to live, even if you want to be away from people.
Stanstead Airport used to be a RAF Airbase... it hosted the American Army Airforce during WW2!
Is the Nuuk airport the international hub? Would be interested in an update! Thanks for the video!
Nuuk's new runway is not scheduled to open until 2024.
Nuuk's runway of under 900m is obviously too small for large scale or even mid scale commercial aircraft, so the government decided to extend the runway (controversially) to 2,400m allowing mid sized aircraft to land and direct flights to Copenhagen, Denmark. A new terminal is being build alongside with it. Perhaps this will open up flight routes again with Iqaluit, Nunavut in Canada.
@@LordDavid04Canada had flights to Nuuk??
@@FastGuy1 No, I think it was briefly this airport.
I'm just curious does anyone know where Jonathan's accent is from in the UK? I've heard it before but I don't know what the 'general area' this accent is from.
I live in Scotland but I'm from Leicester, so I suppose there's a bit of an East Midlands accent in there.
Yay, the bus driver called hiking tramping! I wonder whether he got the term from New Zealand, where we use the term tramping to mean hiking or walking in the outdoors.
I can't even pronounce it without a mouth full of food.
Totally confused. At 1.14 you say no-one flies here to visit "Kang.....". So do you mean they fly in from Denmark to then fly back to Denmark? Or do they arrive in Greenland from elsewhere? No-one would fly to Denmark via Greenland by choice if there were (are) loads of other routes to get to Denmark. Could you explain please?
What I mean is it Kangerlussuaq is not a final destination. Apart from the occasional local resident every passenger arriving on the A330 from Copenhagen then has to wait for a plane to somewhere else - normally Nuuk or Ilulissat. Hence when new airports open there the flights to Kangerlussuaq will stop as there is no demand.
@@TravelObscurer Ah! Thank you. Really enjoyed the piece
I live in USA and I want to visit Greenland for couple of days. Wanted to know, if there are any tour packages available? and what's the best time to Greenland? If anyone, knows greatly appreciated.
It would be very difficult to visit Greenland just for a couple of days from the USA as there are no direct flights from North America, only Denmark and Iceland. There are links to tour operators through the Air Greenland website. Best time to visit has to be the summer as that is the only time when transport is reliable and most tours are operating.
@@TravelObscurer Hi, Thanks for replying back.
Where’s Thule Air Base from here?
A lot further north.
sadly you never mentioned the USAF name for the Base, I may spell it wrong but it wasTOULE AFB. i was stationed there in the early 60's.
Hi Jackie. I haven't seen that name in my research. I know that for a while it was Bluie West 8 before officially becoming Sondrestrom. What aircraft were in use there during your posting?
I think the AFB was Thule afb, we had Kc97 tankers there. i was on a 90 day temp duty there from Shilling AFB in Kanas.
@@jackiesanders489The Thule Base is further north in Pituffik
I was there with a KC97 wing of SAC from smokieHill AFB in Kansas.@@TravelObscurer
Air Greenlands only A-330. The rest is Dash-8's
Let's hope overtourism will be managed properly once direct US flights start.
Yes, that will be a challenge!
its safe walking around? any polar bear or danger animal? i plan transit in there for 24 hours, any tips and trick or thing i should do? where that bus go and how much ?
Perfectly safe - there are no dangerous animals. The bus is cheap and simply does a loop around the town.
@@TravelObscurer what currency we pay? danish money? any top location to stop when i hop on that bus mate?
@@yoenyoen3121 Currency is Danish. Take the bus to the museum. After that you can walk to the bridge then catch the bus back. In reality, if the weather is good then you can walk everywhere from the airport.
@@jonathanwheeler4444 thanks for you tips mate
It’s the nature surrounding it, the settlement is not interesting but do remember the Moskitos net !!
4:19 There are several container houses, that recently won design awards. Just sayin'.
Really! I'll have to look that up. I'm delighted to be proved wrong!
New airports just in time for the climate catastrophe destroying the glaciers and opening up the vast inland areas.
It is technically still a base of operations
As a youngster, I had orders for Sonderstrom AB (as it was called back then). I missed the opportunity to go there due to getting my orders changed to Germany. I always wondered if this would have been a better assignment.
A more memorable assignment perhaps. I'd love to see archive footage of life at the airbase in the fifties and sixties.
1974 S A S flight from Seattle U S A we flew from Vancouver Canada (united airline) (S A S did not have a landing permits in Canada in 1974) Re-fueling stop back then it was called Sondrestrom airport 3am and complete daylight got off plane and airport Terminal they were still using U S army/Airforce vehicles on the ground Cafeteria had coffee/pop and Sandwiches the only hot food was FISH (gee ya think ) a great expreince for a 14 yr old kid While Reboarding I got to sit in the cockpit (Captins seat) WOW🤩🤗 PS: Just before mom & dad moved to Canada from Denmark in 1954 dad worked as a Welder at the U.S Military base @ Sondrestrom
Great story. Thanks for sharing!
A flight between Greenland and continental Denmark is a domestic one, as Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark: they're not an independant country.
Aren't they trying to get independence from Denmark now ? They must have so much in the way of unrecognized wealth still to be discovered that I fear that others covet their resources & they will need a major partner to avoid being invaded ! Watch out for Russians getting a toehold in there ! They would be better off staying part of Denmark IMO !
@@veronicaroach3667 Yes, there is a pro-independence movement on the move in Greenland but they're still part of the Kingdom of Denmark, so it's a domestic flight. As for the merits, I share your take that they'd better stick with Denmark rather than go it alone. You're right.
Very beautiful a part of the cold war dying....
It's really a paradox that "AIR GREENLAND " having RED painted planes..
Wildlife tourism is a thing, you know.
Kangerlussuaq
Well, how fascinating is that, thank you. Ok, who has since tried to type that name into Google earth 😎. The OCD in me has a problem with the Air Greenland livery being red ! ( very smart that it is) ..
I think the ex-school bus is probably U.S.-built, but those propellor planes are all Canadian.
The bilingual French English signs inside the bus made me think it was probably Canadian
@@TravelObscurer Oh, sorry, I was so surprised to see a yellow school bus in Greenland that I didn't even notice the text. Yes, that does suggest it served in Canada - the Americans don't tend to go in for French very much. :-)
Talk about getting nuuked ...
I wouldn't be surprised if it became a military / NATO airbase once again...
Don't get excited? OK. I promise.