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Improvements on all fronts

Air Greenland is expanding its international offers from 2023, and is implementing major initiatives in customer service, low-cost travel and capacity efficiency

On Air Greenland’s scheduled flights, the service approach encompasses everything from customer interactions to flight regularity and favourable offers. All three of these parameters have been tightened up in 2022, and a number of measures have been implemented to further improve service levels – in a region where scheduled and well-organised flights can easily be hampered by weather conditions.

“We can’t change the weather, and of course our fleet must also be serviced and comply with all the technical requirements. During 2022, however, we ran into several instances of no-fly weather conditions, followed by times when the maintenance log required one or more aircraft to be serviced. This meant further bottlenecks in flight operations, which have now resulted in the purchase of an additional Dash 8 machine,”  Henrik Bjørner Søe, CCO explains.

Air Greenland Henrik BJørner Søe

This new aircraft functions as a backup only, and remains protected in the hangar unless extra capacity is needed. This is not, of course, a cheap solution, but it is an investment that provides capacity robustness and flexibility, to the benefit of both flight regularity and maintenance schedules.

Fly ‘n’ Sleep in 2022 and ‘Codeshare’ in 2023

In 2022, Air Greenland has introduced a new ‘Fly ‘n’ Sleep’ product as a favourable offer on international flights. The focus is on customers taking an overnight stay in Kangerlussuaq at their own expense – where, for example, trips to the inland ice or a musk ox safari are available. Cheap flights for these are offered from Denmark to Nuuk, Ilulissat and Sisimiut. These are sold as one-way trips, and have proved hugely popular in 2022, with around 7,000 trips sold.

In 2023, Air Greenland will also establish a direct route to Billund for the first time, operating from late March until mid-October, with one departure per week.

“We have analysed this thoroughly, and it turns out that almost 15% of everyone in the catchment area of Billund Airport has either family members or friends in Greenland. We are starting out conservatively with one weekly departure, but we have really good indications of the potential popularity of the route,” Henrik Bjørner Søe says.

In addition to this, Air Greenland and Icelandair  have signed a letter of intent, with a focus on creating a code share partnership. There are a number of practical and contractual issues that remain to be ironed out during 2023, but the option will give travellers access to an integrated international route network. Together with the two new international airports opening in Greenland in 2025, this will open Greenland up to global air travel.

Proactive customer contact leads to continuous improvement

Air Greenland has also taken steps to improve its direct customer contact in 2022. The group has increased the manning of its customer service department and has extended the department’s opening hours by 17 hours a week.

Air Greenland Kundeservice

“We work very directly with customer feedback – especially with those customers who have given negative feedback to Air Greenland for one reason or another. We reach out to customers who have had an unsatisfactory experience, both to hear more, and to take a hard look at where we can make improvements. We register these criticisms and work proactively with them,” says Henrik Bjørner Søe, CCO

Senior managers from Air Greenland’s commercial department contact customers who have awarded low scores to Air Greenland on one or more parameters. These may involve anything from flight irregularity and prices to challenges with information or customer service. The goal of this customer dialogue is always the same for Air Greenland – namely to ensure that these customers have a voice in the business, and to learn about what can be improved or optimised.

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Improvements on all fronts

Improvements on all fronts Air Greenland is expanding its international offers from 2023, and is implementing major initiatives in customer service, low-cost travel and capacity