NUUK, Greenland — The first direct flight from the U.S. to Greenland by an American airline landed in the capital city of Nuuk on Saturday.
The United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max 8 departed from Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 11: 31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT) and arrived a little over 4 hours later, at 6: 39 p.m. local time (1939 GMT), according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
A seat cost roughly $1,200.
Saturday’s flight marks the first direct passage between the U.S. and the Arctic Island for nearly 20 years. In 2007, Air Greenland launched a route between Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Kangerlussuaq Airport, some 315 kilometers (196 miles) north of Nuuk. It was scrapped the following year due to cost.
The United Airlines flight took place on U.S. President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, which was being celebrated in Washington with a controversial military parade that’s part of the Army’s long-planned 250th anniversary celebration.
Trump has repeatedly said he seeks control of Greenland, a strategic Arctic island that’s a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, and has not ruled out military force.
The governments of Denmark, a NATO ally, and Greenland have said it is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. stepping up intelligence gathering on the mineral-rich island.
United announced the flight in October, before Trump was re-elected. It was scheduled for 2025 to take advantage of the new Nuuk airport, which opened in late N