First Flight Into Qaqortoq: Opening Greenland's New Gateway

This video captures a historic moment in Greenland aviation: the closure of Narsarsuaq Airport and the opening of Qaqortoq as the new gateway to South Greenland. We begin onboard the final commercial Dash 8 flight to and from Narsarsuaq, marking the end of an era for an airport that served the region for decades. Learn about its history, check out its amazing scenery from the air and ground, and also spot a bonus Antonov An-26B that was passing through. From there, the story splits. Sophia remains in South Greenland, taking an AS350 helicopter to Qaqortoq (more incredible views on this one), witnessing the final moments and celebration at the old helipad in town, and positioning at the brand new JJU to greet the arrival of the first commercial flight in. Meanwhile, I return to Nuuk (on the flight deck) to join the first commercial flight into Qaqortoq Airport the next morning. Watch the celebrations, the atmosphere onboard, get into the flight deck to hear about some of the technical (and also emotional, for the First Officer) aspects of landing into this brand new gateway to South Greenland, see the fly-over of the town and approach into Qaqortoq, and the arrival of the first scheduled service. This is a rare look at both the final operations at Narsarsuaq and the first day of service at Qaqortoq—capturing a major shift in Greenland’s aviation infrastructure. Follow Flightradar24 on Instagram -   / flightradar24   Find us on Facebook -   / flightradar24   Twitter -   / flightradar24   LinkedIn -   / 2740521   ------------------------------------------- Useful flight tracking links: ✈️ Track live flights here - https://www.flightradar24.com 🎧 Listen to our podcast here - https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/av... 🛩️ Find out more about subscriptions here - https://www.flightradar24.com/premium 📕 Read our flight tracking glossary here - https://www.flightradar24.com/glossary 📧 Sign up to our Aviation newsletter - https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/on... SECTIONS: 00:27 Welcome to Nuuk 01:16 Last commercial flight to Narsarsuaq 04:00 Narsarsuaq info + approach over terrain 06:51 Surprise guest: Antonov An-26B 07:30 Closing ceremony Narsarsuaq 09:12 Gabe flies Narsarsuaq-Nuuk (Dash 8 flight deck) 16:17 Sophia flies Narasarsuaq-Qaqortoq (AS350 helicopter) 18:18 Qaqortoq helipad celebration & Sophia special accomms 20:03 Qaqortoq new airport gets ready to open 20:44 Gabe flies first Nuuk-Qaqortoq (flight deck) 23:02 Incredible sunrise departure 26:51 About the approach at new JJU 29:48 Approach, fly-by over Qaqortoq, and landing 33:25 On the ground at Qaqortoq 35:47 Conclusion and thanks #greenland #qaqortoq #cockpit