Maryland's BWI Gets First Direct Service to Greenland

If you've been hankering to fly direct to Greenland, there's good news: BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport will offer the nation's first direct flights to the North Atlantic nation starting in May, state officials announced.

Nonstop flights will be offered beginning in May through Air Greenland, the country's small national airline. There will be flights every Friday from May 25 to June 11 and from Aug. 31 till Sept. 21.

During the time in between, when Greenland's tourism season peaks, flights will be offered on Monday, as well.

"Adding Air Greenland will clearly strengthen the airport and Maryland," said Tim Campbell, executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, which manages BWI.

Mr. Campbell said the first direct link between the two countries will pump $10 million into the state economy through revenue from fares, parking and concessions.

"We believe we each have a lot to offer the other," he said.

The five-hour trip to Greenland will be made using the carrier's single Boeing 757 jet, which will arrive at BWI at 1 p.m. and leave for Kangerlussaq airport at 2:30 p.m.

"We hope to expand the flights year-round eventually," said Flemming Knudsen, chief executive officer of Air Greenland.

The determining factor will be the number of passengers, most of whom go to Greenland to experience the country's natural beauty as tourists.

"This is a whole new era of relations between the U.S. and Greenland," said Jorgen Johansen, Greenland's minister of housing, infrastructure, minerals and petroleum.

Greenland has one of the lowest population densities in the world, since 80 percent of the country is cov-ered by ice.

It's roughly three times the size of Texas, but has a population of about 56,000 people - just over one-tenth the population of Anne Arundel County.

But Mr. Johansen nevertheless painted a vivid picture of Greenland from a tourist's perspective, describing untouched winterscapes, exotic wildlife and the allure of the aurora borealis.

"We hope that when you leave, you'll keep a small piece of our country in your heart," he said.

Mr. Knudsen said his airline chose Baltimore and BWI as its first gateway to the United States because it was the right size.

"We didn't want to go into a huge international airport," he said. "You don't get a lot of attention in huge airports because the revenue you can generate as a small carrier isn't enough."

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