Though we’ve only visited Greenland one other time in our Challenging Airports series, we could probably fill an entire special issue with the unique and challenging approaches to the airports that dot the extensive coastline of the world’s largest island. For such an enormous landmass, the entire population of Greenland could fit into a large sporting stadium with just shy of 56,000 residents. Located on the southwest coast of the massive island, the capital city of Nuuk contains nearly one-third of Greenland’s population with around 18,000 residents. Linking Nuuk to other towns across southern and western Greenland and to international points beyond, the small airport at Nuuk has been an essential gateway to the region.
Flying to Nuuk
Flights to Nuuk can be accomplished in everything from the smallest general aviation aircraft to commuter turboprops. Custom payware scenery for Nuuk is available for FSX and P3D from FSDG (https://fsdg-online.com/), while freeware scenery for X-Plane can be found on X-Plane.org (http://x-plane.org). Finally, approach charts can be found at: https://aim. naviair.dk/en/. Select AIP Grønland, AIP Part 3 – Flyvepladser, AD 2 Aerodromes, Nuuk (BGGH).
Air service
The airport in Nuuk (BGGH) was constructed in 1979 after two decades of the city being served by seaplanes landing at the nearby marine port. In 1965, Air Greenland began flights from the airport to nearby communities using the enormous Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, which remained in service for more than four decades until 2010. Direct international flights have come and gone over the decades, with routes to Iqaluit, Canada and Keflavik, Iceland, but the short runway, remote location and challenging weather have conspired to constrain expansion of direct international flights. Flag carrier Air Greenland operates a fleet of Bombardier Dash-8 Q200 aircraft capable of regional flights, including linking flights to international destinations through the larger airport of Kangerlussuaq (BGSF), while Air Iceland provides connections to Keflavik (BIKF) and points beyond.
Airport
Nuuk features a single asphalt Runway 5/23 with a length of only 3,117ft. Conveniently, take-off and landing distances available are the same as neither end of the runway features displaced thresholds or unusable areas. Field elevation is 283ft with the airport constructed on a slight plateau - wedged between the city to the west and high mountains to several thousand feet to the east. Terrain to 5,216ft (Kinaussaq), about 40 miles to the northeast of the airfield, keeps minimum sector altitudes in that area at 6,800ft. Long fingers of fjords radiate out from Nuuk to the northeast, clockwise around to the south. In this type of terrain, elevation can change from sea-level to thousands of feet in under a mile, so situational awareness in instrument conditions is imperative. A single apron with hangars and a small passenger terminal allow for limited parking.
High-intensity runway lights are necessary due to the high latitude and long winters, with sometimes as few as four hours of daylight during the peak of winter. Runway 23 also features a 430m approach light system, while both ends of the runway are served by 3° Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) lights. A notation in the Aeronautical Information Publication advises that the Runway 23 PAPI provides obstacle clearance only within 11° to the east of the extended centreline due to rising terrain in that direction. The runway has a slight but performance-affecting 0.6% slope with the beginning of Runway 05 at 271ft and the end at 281ft. For our flight simulation purposes, the default P3D Nuuk Airport representation isn’t too bad, but third-party developer FSDG has a very nice Nuuk scenery package for FSX and P3D that significantly enhances the experience. There is also nice freeware/donation scenery of Nuuk for X-Plane 11 that gives a fair representation of the airfield.
Nuuk features long, cold and snowy winters that provide a constant threat of slippery runway conditions.
Weather
As one would expect with a high-latitude, seaside airport, the weather along the coast of Greenland can be downright ugly. The area features cold and snowy winters and cool summers. Temperatures year round are cool enough that trees are rare, giving the area a rather stark appearance. From autumn until spring, the sky is overcast or cloudy roughly 83% of the time. Snowfall is not uncommon, with occasional heavy snowfall in storms. Keeping the runway free of contaminants is a constant challenge with average high temperatures through half of the year not exceeding freezing. An examination of a year’s worth of METAR data shows frequent occurrences of snow, freezing drizzle and some low ceilings but winds are rarely excessive except during occasional storms.
Approaches
Runway 23 has a localiser/DME navigation aid (110.30) providing a non-precision (no-glideslope) approach to a missed approach point slightly more than 1nm from the approach end of Runway 23. The minimum ceiling is 630ft MSL (350ft AGL) for the straight-in approach and 730ft MSL (450’ AGL) for the circling approach. The localiser is offset by 3.5° to the right of the extended runway centreline. Circling is only allowed west of the runway, over the fjord, since high terrain to above 2,600ft rises rapidly just east of the airfield. Transitions to the localiser approach can be flown via the NUTKA RNAV intersection 23NM north of the airport or via a more traditional transition flown via a bearing (015°) off the GARDA NDB (314/GH) to a DME arc that leads back around to join the localiser.
In addition to the two localiser approaches, three RNAV approaches are published. The lowest of these approaches is the RNAV Circling B-1 approach that takes advantage of the fjord to bring aircraft to a low altitude (680ft MSL) abeam the runway for a circling approach to whichever is the favoured end of the runway. Dark nights, open water and high terrain in all quadrants make this approach particularly hazardous during the circling phase. The only approach from south of the airfield is the RNAV Circling A-1 procedure that uses three feeder initial approach fixes to set up for an offset final approach course that also ends up in a circling approach. Minimums are 680ft and the missed approach point is 3.4NM south of the airfield, leaving a relatively large gap between the missed approach point and the runway. Obviously in poor visibility, this approach would not give the best opportunity to spot the airfield.
Operational considerations
Many factors should weigh into the decisionmaking process to operate to or from Nuuk. The combination of short runway and highly variable weather should be high on the list when performing a risk assessment. Alternate airfields are few and far between in Greenland and involve significant distances (and fuel) to reach. Kangerlussuaq (BGSF), 172NM north of Nuuk, features a 9,219ft runway with localiser approaches to fairly low minimums (350ft AGL). Maniitsoq (BGMQ) is just 80nm up the coast but it only has a runway length of 2,621ft, an NDB/DME approach and high minimums of 610ft AGL. It is likely that any weather affecting Nuuk may also affect Maniitsoq.
With 3,117ft of runway with possible snow or ice contamination, aircraft performance is a very important consideration. Aircraft as large as C-130s, Fokker F50s and de Havilland Dash-7s have been regular visitors to Nuuk. Turboprops are generally quite good performers on contaminated runways with their excellent reverse/beta capabilities.
King Air medical evacuation flights and Twin Otters can be seen alongside the Dash-8 commuters based at Nuuk. In doing research for this article, I was trying to ascertain if any jet aircraft have been ambitious enough to try operating to Nuuk. The only reference I could find was to a brand new Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet (less than six hours on the airframe!) that suffered a brake failure and runway excursion in 2018 on its delivery flight from the United States to Europe, ending up in a snowbank just off the runway. The incident was due to a mechanical failure and was not the pilot’s fault but it does demonstrate that there are not many opportunities to salvage a take-off or landing if things go wrong on such small runways.
Light general aviation aircraft that are hopscotching their way across the North Atlantic on ferry flights between Northern America and Europe can use Nuuk as a stopover point but many ferry pilots choose the larger airports of Narsarsuaq (BGBW) or Kangerlussuaq (BGSF) given their longer runways and better facilities. It is also worth mentioning that many light aircraft are not equipped to tackle in-flight icing conditions that can menace the ferry routes between North America, Greenland, Iceland and Europe. The high latitude of Nuuk and indeed all Greenland airports mean cold temperatures at low elevations, which can lead to icing on approaches and departures. There are few things as terrifying as being in a single-engine piston aircraft in icing conditions that you cannot escape.
Conclusion
Nuuk airport has all the ingredients that meet the criteria for inclusion in the Challenging Airports club: a short runway, variable marine weather, snow and ice, extended periods of darkness, non-precision approaches, distant alternates and extensive high terrain in the immediate vicinity. Taken individually, none of these factors are particularly daunting, but when combined into a worst-case scenario, check your survival kit, assess the fuel situation and start working on plans B, C and D.
