Greenland flag carrier Greenlandair plans to replace at least four of its six ageing de Havilland Dash 7s with faster ATR 42/72s or Bombardier Dash 8 Q300/400s as it looks to launch short-haul international routes.
The move depends on Greenland's airport authority lengthening the runway at the capital Nuuk from 950m (3,120ft) to just under 1,200m to cope with the new aircraft. Company president Finn Øelund expects the project to take two years once approval is gained.
Greenlandair, part-owned by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), iskeen to exploit tourism opportunities from Canada and Iceland after the axing in October of Canadian operator First Air's service from Ottawa and Iqaluit in Canada's Nunavut territory to Greenland's main hub, Kangerlussuaq.
"We are quite positive about tourism, despite 11 September," says Øelund. "This region has not been so affected." Øelund says the company is talking to ATR and Bombardier but has not decided which aircraft to buy. The order is likely to be split between 50-seat ATR 42s or Q300s and 70-seat ATR 72s or Q400s, and could be for six aircraft. "Dash 7s are too slow and expensive," says Øelund. "We need modern turboprops."
The Nuuk-based airline is planning the move despite the fact that Greenland's airport authority has spent $120 million building six regional airports in the past four years, all with 800m-long runways capable of handling Greenlandair's Dash 7s. These settlements were previously served by helicopter. Øelund says Greenlandair will continue to fly to the airports from Kangerlussuaq with the new aircraft, but with payload reduced to 35 passengers. The airline also operates a shuttle service in southern Greenland from Narsarsuaq using a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter.
Since 29 October, Greenlandair has been competing with SAS two days a week on the Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen, Denmark, route with its single jet airliner, a Boeing 757-200. It is the first time the carrier has taken on SAS, which owns 37.5% of Greenlandair but has no management control. Øelund says: "We are going for 50% of the market." Greenlandair serves Copenhagen four times a week, once from Narsarsuaq in the south, while SAS flies three times a week to Kangerlussuaq with a 767.
Source: Flight International
