Index
Day 1: Layover
Day 2: EWR-GOH inaugural
Day 3: Ilulissat
Day 4: Kangerlussuaq
Day 5: Nuuk
Day 6: Sisimiut
Day 7: Sisimiut
Day 8: Nuuk
Day 9: National Day
Day 10: Return
Greenland
United Airlines' very first flight to Greenland - was a predictably well-attended affair, with many of the usual higher-ups from United at Newark Airport as well as on-board, plus a few more unexpected sights, both among aviation executives and the media/social media crowd. Senior Vice President of Global Network and Alliances Patrick from United Quayle was there as expected, but seeing Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, was quite a surprise. Niraj Chokshi and Tony Cenicola from the New York Times were present, Zach Honig from Chase, Sean Cudahy from The Points Guy, along with Jeb Brooks, a well-known aviation YouTuber who I'd never met til today. Add in a gaggle of more familiar faces (and some unfamiliar) from the social media crowd and it added up to an extremely exciting flight.
The celebration at the gate had a few snacks-- potato and leek soup, fish cakes, a citrus -- the usual speeches and ribbon cutting, including some dignataries whose names I neglected to write down-- and then it was time to board.
Onboard, the flight was excited. Captain Miles Morgan and his crew (First Officer Jeffery, purser Susan, flight attendants Carmen, Joyie, Kayla) all did an exemplary job handling an entire plane full of people up and about discussing their adventure; Patrick Quayle even caught me in conversaion with some other passengers, verifying just how unprecedented the level of excitement was on this flight. Fortunately, having flown with Susan and Joyie before, we all knew they could handle the crowd-- including quite a few frequent flier friends, not just influencers and media junkies-- taking photos and videos and sharing the excitement. And the food was very acceptable (halibut) in Premium Plus (premium economy), and surprisingly, basically the same thing served in economy, just in a smaller portion and in plastic cartons as opposed to plates.
Under 4 hours and under 2,000 miles later, a very excited crowd arrived to some beautiful weather in Nuuk, Greenland. Not sure who was first off the airplane, but social media influencer grace_donner might have beaten Marty and his wife off the plane, and I know laxtoluxury, nycyorkiegirls, and patrickfliesplanes couldn't have been far behind. Fellow United frequent fliers Warren, Scott, Jane, Ossi, William, Astin, Taylor, and more were on board, plus a few other faces who aren't part of our little group but also chase inaugural flights (apologies to anyone I forgot!). Carl even managed to catch us at the gate, although this is one flight he managed to skip (!).
Was a bit of chaos getting off the plane, plenty of media in attendance both on the tarmac as well as in the terminal. The water cannon salute was perfectly executed, then the pilots skillfully parked the plane as the stairs rolled up. Local music/dance was present as we walked down mobile stairs, along the tarmac, and into the terminal. Warren was in costume as always, and the polar bear scored interviews from both the BBC and AP, while we know Jeb Brooks got interviewed as well. Turns out there's a bus service into town, once we figured that out, most of us happily tapped our credit cards and enjoyed the quick limo bus ride into town. Nuuk's brand-new airport may be the largest in Greenland, but it's still a relative small affair with only four gates and a single immigration screening checkpoint.
United was nice enough to let a few of us into the after-party at Nivi, where they had a delicious spread of food and drink, some live music, and a few more speeches. Air Greenland's Milan Vraa stayed late despite the fact that he had to be back at the airport early the next morning, was awesome to catch up with Joyie, and I know the late-night crowd took full advantage of the fact that the sun never sets this time of year. I am not sure how the United people-- Patrick, Joyce, Susan, Joyie, Kayla, etc. managed to hang on so late, but according to Joyie it was all adrenaline!