Ilulissat Airport

Ilulissat Airport (Greenlandic: Mittarfik Ilulissat, Danish: Ilulissat Lufthavn); (IATA: JAV, ICAO: BGJN) is a minor international airport serving Ilulissat, Greenland, the entire Disko Bay Region, the North and West Greenland. It is the 59th largest airport in the Nordic countries with 83,000 passengers in 2012 and is the second airport built in Greenland for civilian travel partially funded by the EU (former EC) Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund. It is the third-busiest airport in Greenland, and by far one of the busiest for international travel in Greenland.[2]

Ilulissat Airport

Mittarfik Ilulissat

Ilulissat Lufthavn
Summary
Airport typeState owned
OwnerMittarfeqarfiit
ServesIlulissat and Disko Bay, Greenland
LocationIlulissat, Avannaata Municipality
Hub for
Elevation AMSL95 ft / 29 m
Coordinates69°14′36″N 051°03′26″W
Websitewww.mit.gl/ilulissat
Map
JAV
Location within Greenland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 845 2,772 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Passengers83,930
Source: AIP[1]

The airport is located north-east of Ilulissat, just 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) of city centre. It was built in 1983,[3] replacing the heliport.[3]

The airport is the main hub out of three used by Air Greenland.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Air Greenland Aasiaat, Ilimanaq,[4] Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk, Qaanaaq, Qaarsut, Qeqertaq,[4] Saqqaq,[4] Sisimiut, Upernavik[4]
Seasonal: Qasigiannguit, Qeqertarsuaq, Reykjavík–Keflavík[5]
Air Iceland Connect Seasonal: Reykjavík–City
Air Nunavut Charter: Iqaluit[6]

Air Greenland operates government contract flights to villages in the Disko Bay area. These mostly cargo flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked.[7] Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day. Settlement flights in the Disko Bay and Aasiaat archipelago areas are operated only during winter and spring. During summer and autumn, communication between settlements is by sea only, serviced by Diskoline.[8]

Airport expansion

The purpose of Ilulissat Airport has been debated in Greenland for decades; there has been pressure for runway extension from the local tourist industry and municipal authorities.[9] An expansion considering constructing a new airport in Ilulissat is in progress. The expansion of the airport will feature a 2,200 m (7,218 ft) runway to let the airport receive direct international airliner flights from mainland Europe and the Americas.[10][11] It will be located just north of the present airport [12] The airport will then (together with Nuuk Airport which will also be expanded) join or even replace Kangerlussuaq Airport as a primary hub, effectively becoming an international gateway to western and northwestern Greenland. There is a general debate on extending or replacing most airports in Greenland, since most are ill located former air bases, or very short.

Accidents and incidents

On 29 January 2014, a De Havilland DHC-8 operated by Air Greenland (Flight 3205) suffered substantial damage in a landing accident. On landing, the left main gear collapsed and the plane skidded down a slope and came to a rest near the perimeter fence. This caused three injuries, not serious, and aircraft scrapped. The cause was a pilot error in difficult wind conditions.[13]

gollark: You can read *fiction* or something, instead of... communist propaganda.
gollark: I don't think "you need to experience it" is a very good argument, though, inasmuch as I really wouldn't want to experience some political systems I'm pretty sure would go badly.
gollark: Also, people seem to be inconsistent on what it actually is.
gollark: Which will *hopefully* go away after this, but I kind of doubt it.
gollark: Crises are always an excuse for governments to grab power. We got ridiculous privacy invasion and useless airport security after 9/11 and whatnot, and governments now are declaring bucketloads of emergency powers.

See also

References
  1. "BGJN – Ilulissat" (xls). AIP Denmark. Copenhagen: Trafikstyrelsen/Danish Transport Authority. 28 June 2012. part AD 2 – BGJN. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mrrv0reteqg51oh/Operationer%20og%20pax%202012-1988.xls - total passengers 2012 was 41,965
  3. Air Greenland, History Archived 23 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Booking system". Air Greenland. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  5. "From Iceland to Greenland". Air Greenland. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  6. "Where We Fly – Air Nunavut / Smooth Air".
  7. Air Greenland, fare system rules Archived 13 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Diskoline timetable Archived 22 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Mayors calling for airport improvements". Sermitsiaq. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  10. Massiv udvidelse af grønlandske lufthavne
  11. "OPLEV VERDEN, OG LAD VERDEN OPLEVE OS". Qaasuitsup (in Danish). October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  12. "Ilulissat". Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  13. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20140129-0

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