Nuuk Airport (GOH) descended into an unusual form of travel chaos on Aug 03, 2025, when United Airlines flight UA81 to Newark was delayed for hours — not due to weather, mechanical issues, or labor strikes, but because the airport’s security staff simply did not show up for work.

Instead, the reason was as Greenlandic as it gets: reindeer hunting season had just begun. With fresh game on the tundra and limited windows to hunt, security personnel traded their uniforms for rifles, leaving an international departure hall full of bewildered passengers and unmanned scanners.

As a result, the flight, scheduled to depart at 09:00 local time, eventually departed at 12:13 local time. The long lines and confusion were compounded by the fact that this is the first year United has operated the Nuuk–Newark route, having launched the service in June 2025. The connection is seasonal, running until September, but incidents like this highlight the unique operational challenges of flying to Greenland, from extreme weather to cultural priorities such as hunting season.

When Hunting Takes Priority

To locals, the disruption made perfect sense. Hunting and fishing are not merely hobbies but essential parts of life in a region where supply ships can be blocked for months by winter ice. While supermarkets exist, they rely on goods shipped from European countries. During hunting season, locals stock up on meat to last through the year, sometimes filling multiple freezers or using natural cold storage outdoors. When reindeer season opens, the cultural and practical importance is so great that workplaces, including airports, may operate with skeleton crews or shut down entirely.

Furthermore, the incident highlighted another challenge for airlines serving remote Arctic destinations: limited alternatives. Long-range aircraft need approved diversion airports, and Greenland has only a handful that meet those requirements. United currently uses Iceland’s Keflavík Airport as its alternate for the Nuuk route, but the distance and FAA fuel reserve regulations already push operational limits for the Boeing 737 MAX 8. With talk of new facilities in Ilulissat, future schedules may adapt to take advantage of more infrastructure.

Likewise, the delay also sparked online debate about cultural awareness and travel planning. Locals were quick to point out that in Greenland, hunting season takes precedence over almost everything, and that visitors, airlines, and travel agents should account for it when booking itineraries. As one Greenlander noted, “Good luck keeping the hunters at work. Everybody knows that.”

In the end, UA81’s delay may become a hilarious footnote within United's dispatch and operations community, but for its passengers, it will remain an unforgettable travel story: the day the airport had its operations paralyzed because security went hunting.