While snow-capped and ice fjord-covered Greenland attracts a pretty adventurous type of person, travel to the autonomous island formally located in North America but under the Kingdom of Denmark has been rising.
In October, United Airlines (UAL) announced that it will start running a flight from Newark Liberty to the Greenland capital of Nuuk in the summer of 2025, while a new Air Greenland flight between Nuuk and the Canadian province of Nunavut has been placed among a ranking of the “sexiest” new flights of 2024 for increasing service to one of the most remote parts of the world.
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With a permanent population of just under 56,000 residents, Greenland hardly comes to mind as the type of destination where one has to watch out for dangers.
But, according to the newest advisory issued by the U.S. State Department, travelers need to “exercise increased caution” around extreme weather conditions that are being increasingly exacerbated by climate change.
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State Department to travelers: ‘Weather can be harsh’
“Greenland’s landscape includes vast stretches of territory remote from cities and settlements,” reads the updated advisory. “The weather can be harsh, and resources to provide emergency services in areas distant from cities and large settlements, including search and rescue, are scarce. In some areas, search and rescue efforts could take several days to reach the site of an incident.”
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The biggest issue is that the area is so remote that finding someone to help in the case of an accident or other emergency will prove difficult; the government agency warns that its “ability to provide consular services to U.S. citizens in Greenland is extremely limited.”
The “exercised increased caution” is the second tier of a four-tier warning system. The top “avoid all travel” level is reserved for active war zones and authoritarian governments, while level two is also shared by countries like France and Germany due to risk of terrorist attacks in major cities.
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Headed to Greenland? Here is what you need to do beforehand
For those who do want to experience ice fjords and other wonders of remote tundra, the State Department recommends purchasing not just the regular travel and medical insurance but also an expanded version that includes evacuation in the case of an emergency.
“Travel with a professional guide or organization, such as those that are a member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators or, if organizing a private expedition, be self-sufficient [someone who has traveled to remote regions and is equipped to explore such areas],” the advisory reads further.
The new United flight to Nuuk will begin on June 14, 2025 and run twice a week on a Boeing 737 Max 8 (BA) plane. The flight will take just over four hours and run seasonally until the weather starts to turn too cold for Greenland travel in October.
As part of a massive route expansion that includes flights to seven other off-the-beaten-path destinations like Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar and Taiwan’s Kaohsiung, United is marketing it as a flight to the “northernmost capital in the world” and a “gateway to world-class hiking and fascinating wildlife under the summer’s midnight sun.”
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