Air Greenland's Iqaluit-Nuuk route still in limbo pending election

A decision on whether Air Greenland will continue its summer route between Iqaluit and Nuuk is in limbo because of the political turmoil in Greenland.

Greenland's premier Aleqa Hammand resigned recently along with several cabinet ministers over a spending scandal. An election has been called for Nov. 28.

Christian Keldsen, chief commercial officer with Air Greenland, says this means there is still no decision on whether the Nunavut and Greenlandic governments will provide some support for the route between the two capitals.

"For the next five or six weeks, we're not going to see any decisions come out of Greenland regarding whether to work closer with Nunavut and hence whether there is a need for a route between Iqaluit and Nuuk."

Keldsen says the route will not continue next summer if it doesn't get more support. The Nunavut government has not contacted Air Greenland about providing support, he says.

He says the airline is not looking for a subsidy, but is hoping the governments of Greenland and Nunavut will commit to buy a certain number of seats.

Keldsen says the political situation could also affect ten of the subsidized routes in Greenland because some contracts weren't finalized for next year before the election was called.