LONDON – In part two of The Air Greenland Feature, let’s take a look at the airline’s current fleet as well as their brand new Airbus A330-800neo.

The Current Fleet…

Nowadays, the carrier has a substantial fleet of both airplanes and helicopters, which we will get into first before we talk about their brand-new aircraft.

Air Greenland has a fleet of nine Aerospatiale AS350 Helicopters that have been in the fleet since the 1990s.

They also have a fleet of Airbus H225 Helicopters, which were direct replacements for their Bell 212 & 222 helicopters that had been in the fleet since the 1980s (For the 212s & 2007 for the 222s).

Moving over to airplanes, the carrier has Kingair BE200Bs, which are used by the healthcare system within Greenland.

Since the acquisition of the type in 2019, Air Greenland and the Health Service have had a fixed lease agreement on the machine, and it is, thus, in practice, the Health Service’s machine.

The carrier also has a fleet of seven De Havilland Canada DHC-8-200s which have been in the fleet since 2010.

These aircraft represented the renewal of their regional fleet from the Dash-7, which had been with the carrier since 1979.

Until 2015, the two aircraft types were operating together before its replacement by the Dash 8.

The Piece de Resistance: The A330-800neo…

Finally, the piece de resistance. Air Greenland received its brand new Airbus A330-800neo on December 6 this year, which will eventually replace its older Airbus A330-200 of OY-GRN, which is currently 24.3 years old at the time of writing.

The airline said that the choice for this new aircraft “fell on a brand new A330neo, to be built from scratch and which consequently paved the way for opting for the most sustainable solutions.”

CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen said the following on the delivery of the aircraft type:

“The engines reduce fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions, which is what we have been aiming for. But we don’t stop there. The type of engine, neo (new engine option), can use biofuel.”

“We are committed to blending 5% SAF, sustainable aviation fuel, on all Tuukkaq flights.”

“This will reduce our CO2 emissions even further to 25% per seat. Sustainability is something we will live up to, even if it is clear in the airline’s vision.”

“In doing so, we support the goal of Greenland becoming a sustainable destination. I am proud that Air Greenland is one of the first airlines in Europe to take the green transition in the aviation industry seriously”.

On the topic of such sustainability as well, the airline operated the delivery flight using 30% SAF, with Sorenson looking to use 5% SAF on its initial commercial flights.

The first commercial flight of the type happened on December 19 from Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq following the aircraft being in the Danish capital since December 7.

Saying Goodbye to OY-GRN…

As for OY-GRN, the old Airbus A330-200 that is due to be replaced, the carrier’s last flight (At the time of writing) was on December 17 from Kangerlussuaq-Copenhagen.

It is not clear when GRN will be retired from the fleet, but here are some statistics on that current aircraft.

OY-GRN has been a workhorse for the airline, having completed around 56,960 flight hours across 12,719 take-offs and landings.

Around five weeks ago (At the time of writing), the airline wished the aircraft a happy 20^th Birthday, having been delivered to Air Greenland in August 2002.

The aircraft started out its life with Sabena in September 1998 as OO-SFP before heading over to an unknown carrier as F-WIHL in February 2002.

This was most likely to be a lesser given the delivery of the aircraft type to Air Greenland in that August as OY-GRN.

The Route Network As It Stands…

So, within the overall network of Air Greenland, they serve 16 airports, and it is quite the hefty route map as well, which shows how vital the carrier is to the country overall.

By March 2023, this will be 17 with the addition of services into Billund.

Below is the list of airports served within Denmark, Greenland, and Iceland alike:

• Denmark:
  • Billund – Beginning March 29, 2023.
  • Copenhagen Airport.
• Greenland
  • Aasiaat
  • Ilulissat
  • Ittoqqortoomiit
  • Kangerlussuaq Kulusk
  • Manitsoq
  • Narsarsuaq
  • Nuuk
  • Paamiut
  • Pituffik (Thule Air Force Base)
  • Qaanaaq
  • Qaarsut
  • Sisimiut
  • Upernavik
• Iceland:
  • Reykjavik

Overall…

Either way, Air Greenland is looking towards the future, with slow and steady growth as the years go on.

Even in the History section of this feature, you can see how gradual the growth is, and that is what has brought Air Greenland the successes it experiences already.

We will delve further into this through our exclusive interview with Air Greenland CEO Nitter Sørensen.

Click here for Part 3 of The Air Greenland Feature

Click here for Part 1 of The Air Greenland Feature

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