Air Greenland provides unusual in-flight experience

When I read MSNBC’s blog post Frontier Airlines eliminates free chocolate chip cookies, I was naturally reminded of Air Greenland that also provides complimentary chocolate chip cookies. Actually, it gives candies and coffee as well for domestic flights.

Air Greenland's complimentary chocolate chip cookies and coffee.

I think it was my first experience to pick up cookies from a basket when I first flew to Greenland. Complimentary snacks I’ve got until then was mostly nuts or pretzels that are individually packed. I found even that quite interesting. (What wouldn’t be, to a girl who was super duper excited about going to Greenland for the first time.)

And then, I saw the flight attendant, and the only, delivering coffee and cookies to the pilots. I could see her opening the cockpit door with the snacks in her hands, and talking with the pilots. I could have a glimpse of the cockpit.

A glimpse of the cockpit, while flying to Ilulissat from Kangerlussuaq

So when I was on a trip to Ilulissat, North Greenland, with my friend Sei, we asked the flight attendant if we could see the cockpit after landing. She asked the pilots and said fine. So, we had a chance to see the cockpit real close, and to talk with the copilot. He is from Iceland and has been working for the airline for a couple years then. He didn’t mind us taking photos of the cockpit, and added if we wanted to come back to the cockpit on our way back home, just ask the flight attendants. I think we could even sit on the pilot seat if we asked.

Inside of the Air Greenland cockpit

Sei from Phoenix, AZ, said, “I think we’d get arrested in the U.S. just for asking permission.”

Another unusual experience was that for some domestic flights, passengers and cargoes are placed in the same space, without any, uhmm, partition.

In the flight to Narsarsuaq from Nuuk. By yoonmee

When Yoonmee and I flew to/from Narsarsuaq, South Greenland, from/to Nuuk, we flew with the cargoes right before us. We tried to find our own check-in luggages from the pile, laughing. On the way, the plane stopped by in Paamiut and all the passengers had to get off for about 10 mins to unload some of the passengers and the packages that may include food, necessities, or postcards. We joked that perhaps the postcards we sent from Qarqortoq are probably flying with us, being buried somewhere in the pile.

And when I thought I took nearly every kind of small planes that the Air Greenland has, it showed me I was wrong. My last domestic flight in Greenland, from Nuuk to Kangerlussuaq, had a very strange seat plan. The first front seats were rear-facing: Imagine the group seat for four at a train, with not much legroom. You got it right. Funny, no? I wonder what purpose having such seats can be.

I haven’t visited East Greenland, and far North yet, and am wondering what interesting experience the flight might provide. Perhaps another excuse to go back to Greenland. grin.