Greenland divided as direct flights from US usher in new era of tourism

The capital's new airport has been opened, two more are in the making, and expectations are high: the Americans are coming to Greenland.

- Daniel Boffey

On Thursday, the first ever international flight into Nuuk, the most populous settlement on the autonomous Danish territory, landed to cheers on the ground and in the cabin of Air Greenland flight GL781, where passengers were served miniature bottles of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne.

The maiden flight to Nuuk was from the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and it was a historic enough moment for Denmark's foreign minister to be onboard. But it was also a precursor for what could be an even more game-changing development.

From June, United Airlines will run a nonstop, four-hour flight from Newark in New Jersey to Nuuk. It will be the first ever direct flight to Greenland from the US and is seen as ushering in a new era. Airlines ran flights with a combined 55,000 seats to Greenland between April and August; that figure will nearly double next year to about 105,000 seats.

Until Thursday, there had been no direct international flights to Greenland's capital. Previously, the first stop would have been a former US military base in Kangerlussuaq, 200 miles north of Nuuk, followed by an internal flight on a small plane.