MS Fridtjof Nansen has completed its first passenger exchange of a total of 500 guests in Nuuk, where Air Greenland’s Airbus Tuukkaq and Jettime’s Boeing 737 flew the guests in and out of the city, while Katuaq welcomed them with events

The Katuaq foyer was buzzing with happy guests as Product Manager Laali Berthelsen, along with Alex McNeil and Daniel Kerzner from Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX), welcomed the new arrivals, who had flown in from Copenhagen, to an event showcasing Greenland’s modern culture.

It was buzzing.

The program featured a fashion show with Nickie Isaksen from the sustainable Greenlandic brand Isaksen Design as well as a personal presentation from Qupanuk Olsen – the country’s leading content creator and the woman behind “Q’s Greenland” – which gave guests insight into culture, identity and everyday life.

The Katuaq foyer was buzzing with happy guests as Product Manager Laali Berthelsen, along with Alex McNeil and Daniel Kerzner from Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX), welcomed the new arrivals, who had flown in from Copenhagen, to an event showcasing Greenland’s modern culture.

It was buzzing.Announcement

The program featured a fashion show with Nickie Isaksen from the sustainable Greenlandic brand Isaksen Design as well as a personal presentation from Qupanuk Olsen – the country’s leading content creator and the woman behind “Q’s Greenland” – which gave guests insight into culture, identity and everyday life.

– We want to show that we have built bridges and are in close relationship with the locals, says Laali Berthelsen and explains that HX collaborates with many local actors in Greenland, and in relation to the event in Nuuk they have collaborated with, among others, Tupilak Travel, Hotel Hans Egede and Greenland Escape as well as Air Greenland 

– everyone is part of the experience that HX wants to give to their guests.

Traffic was buzzing like never before in Greenland’s capital when Hurtigruten Expeditions carried out a full passenger turnover – a so-called turnaround – in Nuuk for the first time. It required top-class logistics, with Air Greenland, Jettime and a number of local partners playing key roles.

HURTIGRUTEN EXPEDITIONS FØRSTE TURNAROUND

Date: June 22, 2025 Number of passengers: Approx. 500 (180 from Denmark, 190 from Iceland, 182 out of Nuuk the same day) Aircraft: Airbus A330neo “Tuukkaq” + Jettime Boeing 737 Events: Katuaq with local partners, fashion show and storytelling Next turnaround: July 2 (arrivals from Newark, Copenhagen and Reykjavik, among others)

Air bridge with Copenhagen and Keflavík 

Air Greenland flew 180 guests from Denmark and 190 from Iceland into Nuuk, including the state-of-the-art Airbus A330neo Tuukkaq, supplemented by a Boeing 737 from Jettime. In total, around 500 passengers were transported in and out of Nuuk in one day – the largest number ever in the airport’s history.

– It suits us perfectly – we fly the passengers in, and at the same time we take those who are going home out. It matches the rhythm of the ship, where one team goes ashore and a new one goes on board, says Thomas Leth Jørgensen, responsible for network management at Air Greenland.

Collaboration paves the way for more expeditions 

HX Expeditions’ ship MS Fridtjof Nansen will sail to Uummannaq, Disko Bay and all the way to Qaanaaq during the summer. And with Nuuk as a base, the ties between cruise tourism and Greenlandic players will be further strengthened.

– An important part of the strategic collaboration is pre-stay experiences, offered by Greenland Travel Agency and World of Greenland – both part of the Air Greenland Group. Here, guests can arrive before boarding and experience places like Ilimanaq Lodge and Ilulissat, explains Laali Berthelsen.

– We utilize the capacity of Ilimanaq Lodges to offer our guests extra experiences, adds Mikkel Søndergaard, CEO of Greenland Travel.

– The collaboration with HX makes it possible to adjust our flight frequencies to meet their needs – today, for example, we flew two hours earlier from Copenhagen, explains Thomas Leth Jørgensen from Air Greenland.

Guests: “An experience of a lifetime”

Among the travelers were Caroline Sitsma and Guido Henneke from the Netherlands, who participated in the welcome event in Katuaq before boarding the MS Fridtjof Nansen and sailing north.

– We have been to the Arctic before, but never to Greenland. When we saw the icebergs in Svalbard, we were deeply captivated. Here in Nuuk, everything is just so beautiful and peaceful, the couple says.

– We planned the trip before Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland – and now everyone suddenly wants to go here! Caroline explains, while her husband Guido Henneke says with a tear in his eye that he is looking forward to experiencing the light.

– As a photographer, I love seeing the light. It really moves me, says Guido, while Caroline joins in:

– Sometimes you come to a place you’ve never been before, but it makes such an impression that it becomes a memory you always carry with you, says Caroline Sitsma.

The Katuaq foyer was buzzing with happy guests as Product Manager Laali Berthelsen, along with Alex McNeil and Daniel Kerzner from Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX), welcomed the new arrivals, who had flown in from Copenhagen, to an event showcasing Greenland’s modern culture.

It was buzzing.

The program featured a fashion show with Nickie Isaksen from the sustainable Greenlandic brand Isaksen Design as well as a personal presentation from Qupanuk Olsen – the country’s leading content creator and the woman behind “Q’s Greenland” – which gave guests insight into culture, identity and everyday life.

The Katuaq foyer was buzzing with happy guests as Product Manager Laali Berthelsen, along with Alex McNeil and Daniel Kerzner from Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX), welcomed the new arrivals, who had flown in from Copenhagen, to an event showcasing Greenland’s modern culture.

It was buzzing.Announcement

The program featured a fashion show with Nickie Isaksen from the sustainable Greenlandic brand Isaksen Design as well as a personal presentation from Qupanuk Olsen – the country’s leading content creator and the woman behind “Q’s Greenland” – which gave guests insight into culture, identity and everyday life.

– We want to show that we have built bridges and are in close relationship with the locals, says Laali Berthelsen and explains that HX collaborates with many local actors in Greenland, and in relation to the event in Nuuk they have collaborated with, among others, Tupilak Travel, Hotel Hans Egede and Greenland Escape as well as Air Greenland 

– everyone is part of the experience that HX wants to give to their guests.

Traffic was buzzing like never before in Greenland’s capital when Hurtigruten Expeditions carried out a full passenger turnover – a so-called turnaround – in Nuuk for the first time. It required top-class logistics, with Air Greenland, Jettime and a number of local partners playing key roles.

HURTIGRUTEN EXPEDITIONS FØRSTE TURNAROUND

Date: June 22, 2025 Number of passengers: Approx. 500 (180 from Denmark, 190 from Iceland, 182 out of Nuuk the same day) Aircraft: Airbus A330neo “Tuukkaq” + Jettime Boeing 737 Events: Katuaq with local partners, fashion show and storytelling Next turnaround: July 2 (arrivals from Newark, Copenhagen and Reykjavik, among others)

Air bridge with Copenhagen and Keflavík 

Air Greenland flew 180 guests from Denmark and 190 from Iceland into Nuuk, including the state-of-the-art Airbus A330neo Tuukkaq, supplemented by a Boeing 737 from Jettime. In total, around 500 passengers were transported in and out of Nuuk in one day – the largest number ever in the airport’s history.

– It suits us perfectly – we fly the passengers in, and at the same time we take those who are going home out. It matches the rhythm of the ship, where one team goes ashore and a new one goes on board, says Thomas Leth Jørgensen, responsible for network management at Air Greenland.

Collaboration paves the way for more expeditions 

HX Expeditions’ ship MS Fridtjof Nansen will sail to Uummannaq, Disko Bay and all the way to Qaanaaq during the summer. And with Nuuk as a base, the ties between cruise tourism and Greenlandic players will be further strengthened.

– An important part of the strategic collaboration is pre-stay experiences, offered by Greenland Travel Agency and World of Greenland – both part of the Air Greenland Group. Here, guests can arrive before boarding and experience places like Ilimanaq Lodge and Ilulissat, explains Laali Berthelsen.

– We utilize the capacity of Ilimanaq Lodges to offer our guests extra experiences, adds Mikkel Søndergaard, CEO of Greenland Travel.

– The collaboration with HX makes it possible to adjust our flight frequencies to meet their needs – today, for example, we flew two hours earlier from Copenhagen, explains Thomas Leth Jørgensen from Air Greenland.

Guests: “An experience of a lifetime”

Among the travelers were Caroline Sitsma and Guido Henneke from the Netherlands, who participated in the welcome event in Katuaq before boarding the MS Fridtjof Nansen and sailing north.

– We have been to the Arctic before, but never to Greenland. When we saw the icebergs in Svalbard, we were deeply captivated. Here in Nuuk, everything is just so beautiful and peaceful, the couple says.

– We planned the trip before Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland – and now everyone suddenly wants to go here! Caroline explains, while her husband Guido Henneke says with a tear in his eye that he is looking forward to experiencing the light.

– As a photographer, I love seeing the light. It really moves me, says Guido, while Caroline joins in:

– Sometimes you come to a place you’ve never been before, but it makes such an impression that it becomes a memory you always carry with you, says Caroline Sitsma.