Narssarssuaq Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Narssarssuaq Airport
IATA: UAK - ICAO: BGBW
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Greenlandic Airport Administration
Serves		Nuuk
Elevation AMSL		112 ft (34 m)
Coordinates		61°09′40″N, 45°25′40″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
07/25	6,000	1,829	Concrete

Narssarssuaq Airport, (IATA: UAK, ICAO: BGBW) is located near the town of Narsarsuaq, Greenland.

1 History
2 Airlines and destinations
3 References
4 External link

[edit] History

[edit] During World War II

The Airfield at Narsarsuaq was first built by The American Ministry of Defense as an army airbase. Construction began in July 1941, and the first aircraft landed in January 1942. The airbase with the code name "Bluie West One" had during World War II squadrons of PBY Catalinas and B-25 Mitchells with the assignment to escort allied convoys and track and destroy German submarines. A military hospital with 250 beds was completed in 1943, and during World War II the population was approximately 4,000 people. It is estimated, that during the war more than 10,000 aircraft was ferried through the Narsarsuaq Airport.

On July 6, 1942 the supply ship "SS Montrose" was wrecked on a cliff in the Narsarsuaq Fjord southwest of the airbase. The first aircraft from Danish Air Force stationed at Narsarsuaq was a PBY Catalina in 1947 and a B-17 in 1948.

[edit] After the War

Civil air traffic began in 1949 with DC-4`s from the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and Icelandair. USA and Denmark signed "The Agreement related to the defense of Greenland" on April 27, 1951. Bluie West One was now shared as airbase between USA and Denmark, and in 1952 Danish Air Force stationed "Airgroup West" with a PBY Catalina at the Narsarsuaq Airport. The US Air Force left Bluie West One in November 1958, and the airbase was closed. In January 1959 the Danish "Hans Hedtoft (ship)" and all onboard was lost near the southern tip of Greenland, and the Danish Authorities decided to reopen the Narsarsuaq Airport. From November 1959 Danish Air Force had 3 PBY Catalinas stationed at Narsarsuaq with the assignment to make ice-observations along the Greenlandic coast, and these observations was broadcasted to ships in the area.

In 1960 Greenlandair was formed and began operations with Sikorsky S-55 and DC-4. From 1962 Greenlandair was using PBY Catalina and Twin Otters on domestic routes in Greenland, and from 1965 Sikorsky S-61. In the 60`s and 70`s Greenlandair and SAS were operating with DC-6 and Icelandair with B727 in Greenland, and in the 80`s SAS was using DC-8 at Narsarsuaq.

[edit] Recent

Since January 1, 1988 the Narsarsuaq Airport has been operated by The Greenlandic Homerule.

Today Narsarsuaq has connections to Nuuk, Kangerlussuaq, and Reykjavík with smaller commuter planes, and to Copenhagen with B757s. Ice-observations are still based at Narsarsuaq and carried out with Ecureuils.