Greenland’s Nuuk Airport has suspended all international flights until further notice due to inadequate training.
“The Danish Transport Authority has temporarily suspended the security screening of international passengers traveling from Nuuk Airport,” Greenland Airports, which owns and operates all civilian airports in the territory, announced on Wednesday. “The suspension is due to the fact that, according to the Danish Transport Authority, the training of staff for screening international passengers does not fully meet the current requirements.”
The statement continued, “We are working intensively with the Danish Transport Authority to address the specific issues identified in the training. The goal is to restore normal operations for international traffic as quickly as possible.”
Greenland Airports made it clear that domestic flights would not be interrupted during this period.
The suspension notice forced a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Nuuk to return to the States. The airline canceled the flight as well as its return flight which was scheduled for Wednesday.
United became the first airline to operate a nonstop route to the Greenland capital when its service launched in June. The last U.S. to Greenland service was via Air Greenland in the late 2000s.
“Of course, there’s things we have to learn. But I think it’s been promising,” the head of international relations at Visit Greenland, Tanny Por, told The Points Guy. “It’s the first time we’ve had any airline come from outside Copenhagen or Iceland, ever, so it’s really a big milestone and a big historical moment.”
