Kangerlussuaq Airport (, ) is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only two civilian airports in Greenland large enough to handle large airliners. It is located away from the coast and hence less prone to fog and wind in comparison with other airports in Greenland. Kangerlussuaq Airport is the international hub for Air Greenland. The Kangerlussuaq area has very few inhabitants (around 500), so few passengers have their origin or destination here; most passengers change planes. History The first airport was built here during the US occupation in 1941 under the name of Bluie West-8, later renamed Sondrestromfjord Air Base and Sondrestrom Air Base. In the mid 1950s, transatlantic civilian flights began using the air base for refueling. In 1956, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was flying "Polar route" service with three round trip flights per week being operated with Douglas DC-6B propliners on a routing of Copenhagen - Sondre Stromfjord (now Kangerlussuaq) - Winnipeg - Los Angeles. This use enabled air travel to Greenland, but fell off in the 1960s as airliners gained greater range. Instead the base became the hub of Greenland air traffic. The airport was handed over to civilian Greenlandic control in 1992. At a late 2011 Air Greenland meeting, plans to move the main Greenland intercontinental air hub away from Kangerlussuaq were agreed upon. According to the 2011 plan, three airstrips will be built: a new airport at Qaqortoq, as well as extensions at Nuuk and Ilulissat. New airports will probably also be built at Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit later. Alongside Kangerlussuaq, the airports at Narsarsuaq and Kulusuk (if Tasiilaq is built) will also be closed. Generally, a number of the airstrips have been built by the US military at locations deliberately away from major settlements, partly due to the Danish policy to downplay the presence of the US military in Greenland. There is also a need to renovate the Kangerlussuaq runway for a fairly high cost as the permafrost is melting under it. A decision was made in 2016 to extend the runways of both Nuuk and Ilulissat airports to , allowing them to receive medium size jetliners from Denmark, and also to replace Narsarsuaq with a new airport at Qaqortoq. Construction at Nuuk Airport started late 2019. This, in combination with the condition of the runway, will probably mean that Kangerlussuaq will