From Iceland — Greenland Gets A New Airport Because Of Capelin Caught In Icelandic Waters

Greenland Gets A New Airport Because Of Capelin Caught In Icelandic Waters

Published December 14, 2021

Reetta Huhta
Photo by
Axel Sig

Due to the growth in capelin revenue, Greenland is now able to build a new airport in the largest town in southern part of the country, reports Vísir. The building process will start next summer.

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The town of Qaqortoq, home to about 3,000 people, will finally have the long-awaited airport. A lack of funding has hampered the process in the past, but now the government has announced that they have found the money for the project from capelin revenue.

The capelin is fished in Icelandic waters, but the Greenlanders are entitled to twenty percent of the quota. This season, approximately 180,000 tons of capelin belonged to Greenland, which is valued at 12 billion ISK.

The news about the new airport was well received in Qaqortoq. People were celebrating with fireworks and singing. Previously, if the residents of Qaqortoq wanted to fly somewhere, they needed to sail for two hours to get to the nearest airport in Narsarsuaq.

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