Nuuk international airport to the northeast of the town centre. Built in 1979, it is a hub for Air Greenland, which is also headquartered in Nuuk, and operates its technical base at the airport. There are flights inside Greenland and to Iceland. There is a decision to extend the runway so that there can be flights to European destinations like Denmark. As a result of the high cost of flying goods to Greenland, Nuuk and other towns in Greenland are connected to Denmark by cargo vessels which sail mainly from Aalborg during the warmer months after the winter ice has melted.
Nuuk Airport between Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk, using planes much smaller than the charter planes, often requiring a hotel night in Kangerlussuaq. Nuuk airport has one asphalt runway (05/23) above sea level. The airport terminal and apron are built on a levelled platform on an undulating slope under the Quassussuaq mountain, with the runway platform artificially elevated to compensate for the scarp immediately to the west. The runway platform bed is composed of broken rock and rubble, topped with gravel, and protected by a low, wooden fence. The northern end of the runway is less than from the shore of Nuup Kangerlua fjord.