International departures from Greenland’s Nuuk Airport have been temporarily suspended due to security concerns, the Danish transport ministry announced on Wednesday. The move comes less than a year after the airport inaugurated a new runway designed to accommodate long-haul flights.
The runway, opened in November 2024, allowed larger aircraft to operate direct routes, reducing reliance on stopovers in Iceland. Nuuk even introduced a twice-weekly flight to New York under the expanded operations.
However, according to Greenland Airports’ schedule, Wednesday’s 9:00 am flight to New York and an 11:50 am departure to Billund, Denmark, were cancelled.
Explaining the decision, Anders Windfeldt from the Danish transport ministry told AFP that training for staff monitoring international passengers fell short of regulatory standards.
“We have issued Greenland Airports an injunction to comply with aviation safety rules at Nuuk Airport, where we have identified a number of insufficient safety measures,” Windfeldt stated.
He added that international departures are “temporarily suspended until security personnel receive the necessary training and the airport is fully capable of adhering to its own procedures and security plan.”
The ministry clarified that domestic flights within Greenland remain unaffected. Greenland Airports is now required to inform authorities when security compliance is restored.
“Passengers concerned will be contacted directly by their airline with practical information and any changes to their itinerary,” the airport operator said in a statement.
