Airlines Canadian North and Air Greenland announce strategic partnership

With the signing of a Letter of Intent, Canadian North and Air Greenland have officially entered into a strategic partnership, which will see both airlines committing to explore new opportunities for air service and sustainable tourism development.

The Letter of Intent was signed in Ilulissat by Canadian North Executive Chairman Johnny N. Adams, Canadian North President and CEO Chris Avery, Air Greenland Board Chairman Kjeld Zacho Jørgensen and Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen.

On the Greenland Conference 2020, which was hosted by the Confederation of Danish Industry in Denmark, Adams provided an update on the COVID-19 situation during a online presentation: “We were going to announce the LOI in March of 2020, but both of our airlines were occupied with providing safe travel throughout our customers’ journeys and preventing the spread of COVID.”

Chris Avery added: “In 2021, we’ll be adding two Boeing 737-700 aircraft to our fleet that will be able to go from Toronto direct to Nuuk or Ilulissat [...] Although we have yet to enter the planning stages of providing this connectivity, the LOI is a reflection of our common goal; to bridge the vast distances between Canada and Greenland. Inuit have traversed the Arctic since time immemorial to gather, share, and trade. Direct flights between the two countries would revitalize this relationship, strengthen cultural ties and provide economic opportunities in tourism and trade.”

“Now that there is a vaccine in distribution, it’s time to start looking ahead to partnering on flights through Ottawa-Iqaluit-Nuuk and Ottawa-Iqaluit-Ilulissat. We’d also like to connect Greenland directly with southern Canada, possibly via Toronto during the tourism season, which includes March, April and August to October,” Adams concluded.

Canadian North is a 100% Inuit-owned airline that has put its focus on serving regional destinations in Canada´s North. The airline connects people and - in these times in particular – delivers essential goods throughout the country. The carrier currently flies with one Bae Avro RJ85, 13 ATR 42s and 16 Boeing 737s.

Air Greenland is the flag-carrier airline of Greenland and was founded in 1960. The airline has undergone rapid development during the last 50 years. The fleet currently consists of one Airbus A330, which is regularly connecting Greenland with Copenhagen, and seven De Havilland Canada DHC-8-200, which are well suited for Artic operations.