Jacob Nitter Sørensen after turbulent months: - It has been hard

You can listen to the entire podcast at the bottom of the article.

The sun shines over Nuup Kangerlua, where ice floes quietly drift by.

From the view at the new international airport in Nuuk – a large-scale investment in Greenland’s future – Air Greenland’s CEO, Jacob Nitter Sørensen, reflects on six months of criticism, chaos and cancellations.

– It has been hard. I know what it means for both passengers and employees, he says.

Tuukkaq cancellation costs up to 2.5 million DKK

While the Tuukkaq plane is landing without any problems today, this has not been the case in the past. A total of 32 transatlantic flights have been either cancelled or forced to turn back this year – with major financial consequences.

– We say that typically a day like this, where we either cancel Tuukkaq or turn around, costs anything from 1 to 2.5 million kroner, says Jacob Nitter Sørensen.

He emphasizes that the winter of 2025 has brought unusually bad weather throughout the country – not just in Nuuk.

– The days when we haven't been able to land with Tuukkaq, we haven't been able to land with the Dash-8s either. And it hasn't just been Nuuk – it's also been in Ilulissat and in Sisimiut. So I think it's a bit too cheap to say that it's only about Tuukkaq, says the director.

"Everyone feels downgraded"

Helicopter traffic in North Greenland has also been hit by technical problems, and some passengers have experienced delays of up to a month. The dissatisfaction is palpable.

– We are being bombarded from all over Greenland with: “Now you have to invest extra in the north, or you have to invest extra in the east or south.” But we do what we can – everyone feels downgraded.

The criticism is particularly clear on social media such as Facebook. However, he does not take the complaints too seriously.

– Firstly, I think that's kind of how social media is today. There's a bit of excitement, a bit of drama and so on. Of course people will write about it. We also just have to remember that in the past, when you got stranded in Kangerlussuaq and were accommodated in a sports hall – or if we didn't have enough rooms – you also wrote about it on social media, says Jacob Nitter Sørensen.

Teacher of complaints

Some complaints, however, persist. One episode in particular from North Greenland in 2024 stands out clearly in my memory.

– One of the ones I remember best is actually from North Greenland last year, where the weather was really bad. Low clouds, fog... We haven't been able to fly for many days. Then we start using boats.

But it turned out to be a bad solution.

– It develops quite unluckily. They get out into bad weather, and some things also happen on the boat in relation to the technology. So the customers actually become quite uneasy. Of course they come forward, but there were some of the customers who called afterwards and told about the incident.

Since then, Air Greenland has tightened up on the use of boat transport as an alternative solution.

– Sometimes we are a bit too good at trying to solve problems at any cost. And we have tightened up a lot around the boat transport thing, he says.

Listen to the entire podcast below, where Jacob Nitter Sørensen talks about his transition from pilot to director, the announced ticket price increases and his thoughts on the future.