The Greenlandic airline Air Greenland had to suspend ticket sales for all flights scheduled after January 16, 2022. The background is that due to the quarantine regulations, there is now a shortage of staff.

Many Air Greenland pilots and flight attendants are in quarantine because of infections or because they are classified as so-called contact persons. This is now having a massive impact on flight operations, as the company stated that it would have to temporarily stop selling tickets. The employees are simply running out.

In the interim, the Dash 8 machine type will be used almost exclusively, but no more than half of the seats will be occupied. There is a good reason for this, because you want to keep the option open to reduce the number of flight attendants or to do without them entirely.

Authority approves Dash flights without a flight attendant

Air Greenland received an exemption from the Danish civil aviation authority to operate the Dash 8 machine without a flight attendant. However, this is only allowed if there are a maximum of 19 passengers on board. In this case, the pilots must present the safety instructions and take over all communication with the passengers.

Air Greenland currently has seven Dash 8-200s and one Airbus A330-200. The long-haul aircraft is primarily used between Koopenhagen and Kangerlussuaq. According to CH-Aviation.com, the carrier's route network comprises a total of 70 routes, of which only two international routes are operated.

The flight operations should not be stopped due to the emergency measure. Tickets are temporarily no longer available via the regular Internet route, but are given to people who have important reasons for travel - for example, illness of a relative, funeral, childbirth and important business appointments - upon telephone request.