New but not everything works
Arrived for my Air Greenland flight 771 to Iqaluit in a black SUV taxi, license plate GL22133, from the Hans Egede Hotel using the usual route to the airport. When we arrived, I paid the fare. Then he asked for a $10 tip. I said I had only $5, take it or leave it. He took it and I left. You expect this manoeuvre in a Third World country.
Went in and printed off my boarding pass and baggage tag at the machine. Went to Security. But no place to drop off my checked bag. Two large baggage belts were outlined in bright green light. They were roped off and a sign said not in use. Very helpful. Got a security agent to call baggage handling. I and another guy with a checked bag waited until an employee arrived with an orange cart and a sign that said, “oversize bags”. No, just regular checked bags, buddy.
The security process was a marvel of inefficiency. Finally finished and descended the escalator to Departures Level (ground) which has a small departures/arrivals screen, open Duty-Free maze, Café Sumut and five (5) gates to the exterior. Announcements for departing flights are usually bilingual Greenlandic and English but the English is often incomprehensible or missing entirely. My boarding pass and the flights screen both said 1455h for flight 771, but at 1430h I noticed a lineup of people at Gate 5 so walked over and asked the customs/immigration gate agent if this was the flight to Iqaluit. Yes, it was. But no public announcement was made. All flight 771 passengers then scrunched into a space behind the Gate 5 counter before being directed to walk outside the length of the airport building to the waiting red Air Greenland Dash-8 sitting on the tarmac. Glad to be leaving.