Qaanaaq Airport guide

Qaanaaq Airport (ICAO BGQQ) sits about 3.5 km northwest of Qaanaaq, the main settlement of the Avannaata municipality in far northwest Greenland. It is the only public airport in the region, and the town has no road link to any other settlement.

The airport opened in 2001. It has one gravel runway, 17/35, 900 metres long, at an elevation of 16 metres. Mittarfeqarfiit (Greenland Airports), the state-owned airport company, runs it. The short gravel strip limits operations to turboprops and helicopters.

Air Greenland is the only airline. It flies to Upernavik and Thule, and connects with the settlements of Moriusaq and Siorapaluk by helicopter. Seasonal flights run to Ilulissat. The airport handled 1,719 passengers in 2012.

Thule Air Base is closed to regular passenger traffic, so this airport is the local lifeline. A transfer permit is required for flights to Thule and for the Pituffik stopover on the Qaanaaq to Savissivik route. Greenland residents obtain it from the Rigsombudsmanden in Nuuk; other travellers obtain it from the Danish Foreign Ministry. Airlines deny boarding without it.