Photos

It is appropriate to show a photograph of the waiting area of the Kangerlussuaq Airport to represent this town as the airport is the reason for its existence.

Until 1941, the area was not populated, although it has always been a summer hunting and fishing grounds for the local Innuit. Kangerlussuaq Airport was first established as a US Airbase in WWII, code named Bluie West 8. After the war, the airport became Sondrestrom Air Base in 1951 after the US and Denmark signed a defence agreement.

Today the airport is the busiest in Greenland and a major port of entry into the country for tourists, businessmen, and researchers. Because the ice pack is only 25km away, and accessible by road, it is the location of the operation center for the Greenland Ice Core Project.

Kangerlussuaq is about 50km north of the Arctic Circle.

To view the exact location of this photograph, here is a link for Google Earth users.