Direct flights from Nuuk to Iqaluit are not allowed to take off for another two weeks. Greenland Airports, which operates the Nuuk airport, was forced to suspend all international flights out of the capital last week when its security authorization was revoked following an inspection by the Danish Transport Authority. That affects the weekly flight out of Nuuk to Iqaluit, as well as to Keflavik, Iceland.
Flights into Nuuk, as well as domestic flights, aren't affected. In a statement to CBC, Greenland Airports spokesperson Mikkel Bjarnø Lund said the suspension was due to security concerns, like unlocked doors that could allow unauthorized access into restricted areas at the airport. Greenland Airports had originally expected the issue to be resolved by Tuesday.
It's not yet clear why it'll take another two weeks. Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, with her youngest daughter, was supposed to have flown home to Iqaluit last week from Nuuk, on the day the suspension was announced. She decided to stay in Nuuk for another week, to avoid taking a lengthy four-day detour to five other destinations in Denmark and Canada en route to Iqaluit.
"It's very hot [in those destinations] and we only have clothing for an Arctic summer. We decided it was out of the question," she said. "As it turns out, I know a number of people I would have travelled with caught COVID, and are laid up in Iqaluit now.
" An Air Greenland flight in Iqaluit on June 26. (Matisse Harvey/Radio-Canada ) While she took the .