newstodate.aero

Feb 24, 2022 (newstodate): Plans for construction of a new airport at Qaqortoq, in the south of Greenland - the missing link in the country's airport strategy - are now moving forward again after a prolonged delay.  
   Qaqortoq Airport would have a 1,499m runway; but the project was stalled in September 2020 as the outcome of a tender for the airport's runway made clear that the bids from the entrepreneurs by far exceeded the budget, requiring either a recalibration of the project, or reconsideration of its financing.
   A second tender was opened on January 7, 2021, still requiring construction of a 1,499 m runway - but now coupled to construction of the pertinent airport buildings in the optimistic hope that the combined solution might still land within the financial limits of the budget allocated to the project.
   The outcome of this tender also did not meet these hopes, and a new report by COWI showed that the cost for a 1,499 m runway will run into one billion Kroner; a 1,000 m runway will cost 647 mio, and a 799 m runway will run into 527 mio Kroner in construction costs.  
   Now, the runway tender has finally been won by the Canadian company Pennecon Heavy Civil, a contract has been signed, and construction works will start this spring.
    The contract includes, among other things, the establishment of the 1,500 m runway, site preparations for the terminal construction, taxiway, airfield, public parking areas and completion of the access road to Qaqortoq.
   The construction schedule runs over three years, and the new airport will be ready for use in the autumn of 2025. In the original master plan, the new airport at Qaqortoq was slated for completion by Q4, 2023.
   The new airport buildings are expected to be re-tendered during the spring of this year.