Why can flights be changed?
Air Greenland operates in an area with long distances, few alternative transport options, and weather conditions that can change quickly from one place to another. For this reason, changes may occur at short notice, even when the weather appears fine where you are.
Most flight changes are caused by weather conditions, but there may also be other reasons for a change. Here you can read more about the factors that most often affect a flight:
- Weather conditions
- Technical conditions
- Airport conditions
- Operational conditions
- Societally critical tasks, such as search and rescue or patient transport
- Other reasons that may affect the flight
Safety is always our highest priority, and aviation regulations must be followed. For this reason, a flight is only changed when it cannot be operated as planned within the applicable regulations.
Why can a change in one place affect my flight?
Air Greenland’s traffic programme operates as an interconnected network. This means that delays or changes in one location can affect flights elsewhere in Greenland.
How will I be informed?
If your journey is changed to another day, we will inform you as soon as possible by SMS and email. You will receive information about the reason for the change and the next steps for your journey.
Why can’t I travel earlier?
When changes occur in the traffic programme, many elements need to come together. We need to operate the day’s scheduled flights while also assessing whether it is possible to add extra departures.
This requires an available aircraft or helicopter and a crew that can operate within crew rest regulations. Weather, airport conditions, and other operational factors must also be in place. If there are no available seats, we cannot rebook you onto an earlier departure. Sometimes seats become available at the last minute if passengers do not show up and have not informed us. We often only know this when check-in closes.
Why do I have to travel by boat instead of flying?
In some local situations, boat transport may be an option instead of helicopter transport. This depends, among other things, on the route, the weather, and local conditions.
Helicopter operations are subject to fixed operational minimum requirements, including weather and visibility. This means that a helicopter flight may need to be changed at shorter notice.
When we use boat transport, it is provided by passenger-approved boat operators with whom we have agreements.