Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 117 ft / 36 m 11/29 1,199 Code KUS Phone +299 98 69 88 | Serves Kulusuk, Greenland Website Kulusuk Airport Address Greenland Elevation 35 m | |
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Operator Greenland Airport Authority
(Mittarfeqarfiit) | ||
kulusuk airport greenland
Kulusuk Airport (Greenlandic: Mittarfik Kulusuk) (IATA: KUS, ICAO: BGKK) is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.
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landing at kulusuk airport greenland
Bottlenecks
Unlike the heliport in Tasiilaq on the nearby Ammassalik Island, the airport in Kulusuk can serve STOL aircraft, thus functioning as a mini-hub for Tasiilaq.
Given the increasing number of passengers travelling through the airport due to connections provided by Air Iceland, both domestic to Nerlerit Inaat Airport and international to Iceland, the number of fixed-schedule helicopter flights to Tasiilaq is not sufficient to cover demand, due to a single Bell 212 helicopter of Air Greenland stationed at the airport.
Before Air Greenland took over Air Alpha, flights had been operated on-demand by two helicopters. The problem is acknowledged by Air Greenland, however the final decision regarding expansion belongs to the Government of Greenland.
Facilities
Kulusuk Airport has in corporation with Air Iceland installed de-icing facilities since the winter 2014-2015. The terminal building hosts a small cafeteria, and a duty-free stand in the departures/arrivals hall. Accessible restrooms are available.
Transfers
Access to the departures hall is limited due to the need to screen purchases at the duty-free. Passengers are only allowed to pass through the hall immediately before boarding, resulting in a lack of separation between arriving and departing passengers in the waiting check-in hall. Most arrivals and departures are synchronized in time to facilitate transfers between Air Iceland passengers and Air Greenland paseengers bound for Nuuk and Tasiilaq (and to several settlements in the area from there).
The waiting hall is not sufficient to accommodate all passengers, resulting in a pre-boarding chaos. Most flights are delayed due to the policy of deferring departures until all transferring passengers have been distributed to their respective flights, one flight at a time.
History
The airstrip was built by the US defense in 1956, in order to support a Distant Early Warning Line station. The defense station was closed in 1991. Like some other airports in Greenland it was not built at a location suitable for civilian travel, i.e. not near the local major settlement.
Future
The are political discussions on building a new airport at Tasiilaq, the major settlement in the region, and to close the Kulusuk Airport.