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Sisimiut Airport (BGSS/JHS) is a small regional airfield on the northern shore of Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, about 2.2 nautical miles northwest of the West Greenland town of Sisimiut. Built partly on reclaimed land and opened in 1998, it is one of a network of STOL-capable airports constructed across Greenland in the 1990s, and today it remains a fly-through point on Air Greenland's domestic network as well as a base for general aviation.
Sisimiut Airport serves Sisimiut, the second-largest town in Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality of the country's central-west coast. It is operated by Greenland Airports (Mittarfeqarfiit) and was purpose-built to accommodate the short take-off and landing aircraft that Air Greenland introduced to cope with the country's demanding terrain and weather. For the visiting simulator pilot it offers a compact single-runway field set against a dramatic Arctic coastal and bay backdrop, with no instrument landing system to rely on and correspondingly strong reliance on visual flying skills.
The airport lies on the northern shore of Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, roughly 2.2 nautical miles (about 4.1 km) northwest of the town of Sisimiut, in the Qeqqata municipality of central-western Greenland. There is no ILS approach available at the field, and no road links Sisimiut, or its airport, to any other settlement, underlining the airport's role as an isolated regional gateway rather than a node within a wider connected airspace structure.
The airport has a single physical runway, 13/31, measuring 2582 feet and constructed of a hard surface with runway lighting. There is no ILS or other instrument approach aid associated with this runway, so arrivals and departures are conducted visually.
Sisimiut Airport is served by an Aerodrome Flight Information Service, callsign SISIMIUT AFIS, on a frequency of 118.1 MHz. This is not a full air traffic control service, and pilots should expect to receive traffic and airfield information rather than clearances. No ILS is provided at the field.
The airport sits on the northern edge of Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, which forms a useful visual feature when approaching from the sea or from the town. The town of Sisimiut itself, immediately to the southeast of the airport, and the surfaced access road and harbour bridge connecting the town to the airfield, both offer clear visual cues for locating the field from the air.
Sisimiut Airport opened on 3 October 1998 as part of a wider programme, begun in 1995, to build a series of new airports across Greenlandic towns to support the De Havilland Canada Dash-7 STOL aircraft that Air Greenland had acquired in the preceding decade, aircraft particularly suited to the country's often severe weather. The runway and apron were built partly by landfill into Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay. Construction of the access road to the airport began in February 1996 and included a bridge over Sisimiut's harbour, completed in July 1997; the airport itself cost 210 million kroner, making it the most expensive airport in Greenland at the time of its construction. It replaced an earlier heliport on the eastern outskirts of the town in Sisimiut valley, which has since closed. Other airports built in the same programme included Maniitsoq, Aasiaat, Qaarsut and Upernavik. Since 2000 there has been recurring discussion of a road link between Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq, intended to reduce reliance on Kangerlussuaq Airport as the national hub; a simple track for off-road vehicles between the two settlements was completed in 2025, alongside the opening of a rebuilt, larger Nuuk Airport in 2024.
Sisimiut Airport continues to operate as a regional fly-through point on Air Greenland's scheduled network, with connections to Ilulissat, Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk; no aircraft are based on site for scheduled services, though the field is also used for general aviation. There is no de-icing equipment at the airport, a notable limitation given Greenland's winter conditions. Passengers connecting through the airport on the same aircraft are required to disembark and go through the boarding process again before continuing their flight.
