NUUK, Greenland (AP) — An American carrier’s inaugural nonstop flight from the U.S. arrived in the country’s capital city of Nuuk on Saturday.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 flight operated by United Airlines took off from Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 11:31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT). It landed approximately four hours and nine minutes later, at 6:39 p.m. local time (1939 GMT), as reported.
the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The price of a seat was approximately $1,200.
Saturday’s flight marks the first direct passage between the U.S. and the
Arctic Island
For almost two decades. In 2007, Air Greenland initiated a service connecting Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport with Kangerlussuaq Airport, located approximately 315 kilometers (196 miles) north of Nuuk. However, this route was discontinued the next year because of high costs.
The United Airlines flight occurred on U.S. President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, which was being marked in Washington with a contentious military parade as part of the Army’s celebrations.
long-planned 250th anniversary celebration
.
Trump has repeatedly said he seeks control of Greenland, a strategic Arctic island that’s a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, and has not
ruled out military force
.
The governments of Denmark, which is a NATO ally, along with Greenland, have stated this as their position.
not for sale
And dismissed accounts of the U.S. intensifying espionage activities on the resource-abundant island.
United announced the flight in October, before Trump was re-elected. It was scheduled for 2025 to take advantage of the new Nuuk airport, which opened in late November and features a larger runway for bigger jets.
“United will be the only carrier to connect the U.S. directly to Nuuk — the northernmost capital in the world, providing a gateway to world-class hiking and fascinating wildlife under the summer’s midnight sun,” the company said in a statement at the time.
Saturday’s flight kicked off the airline’s twice weekly seasonal service, from June to September, between Newark and Nuuk. The plane has around 165 seats.
Previously, travelers had to take a layover in Iceland or Copenhagen, Denmark, before flying to Greenland.
According to Greenland’s government minister Naaja Nathanielsen, the new flight will be advantageous for both the island’s businesses and its inhabitants.
Visitors will contribute funds to local enterprises, and Greenland residents can now journey to the U.S. with greater ease, as stated by Nathanielsen, who oversees business, mineral resources, energy, justice, and gender equality.
told Danish broadcaster DR.
She mentioned that the route is crucial for expanding the island’s economy. Fisheries account for roughly 90% of Greenland’s export earnings.
Tourism is increasingly important. More than 96,000 international passengers traveled through the country’s airports in 2023, up 28% from 2015.
Visit Greenland echoed Nathanielsen’s comments. The government’s tourism agency did not have projections on how much money the new flights would bring to the island.
“We do know that flights can bring in much more than just dollars, and we expect it to have a positive impact — both for the society and travellers,” Tanny Por, Visit Greenland’s head of international relations, told The Associated Press in an email.
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Stefanie Dazio from The Associated Press in Berlin contributed to this report.
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