The first airport was built here during the US occupation in 1941 under the name of Bluie West-8, and later renamed Sondrestromfjord Air Base and Sondrestrom Air Base. The airport is located away from the coast and hence less prone to fog and wind than other airports in Greenland. In the mid-1950s, transatlantic civilian flights began using the air base for refuelling. In 1956, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was flying "Polar route" service with three round trip flights per week being operated with Douglas DC-6B propliners on a routing of Copenhagen - Sondre Stromfjord (now Kangerlussuaq) - Winnipeg - Los Angeles. This use enabled air travel to Greenland, but fell off in the 1960s as airliners gained greater range. Instead, the base became the hub of Greenland air traffic. The airport was handed over to civilian Greenlandic control under Greenland Airports in 1992. Air Greenland introduced seasonal flights to Baltimore in May 2007. The following March, it decided to end the route. In the past there have been tourist charter flights between Germany and Kangerlussuaq in summer, in connection with cruise ship arrivals to the Kangerlussuaq seaport. Those flights have typically been operated by Air Greenland or airlines from Germany. Other charter flights have also been operated, for example a number of flights from the US and Canada landed in connection with the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk and a flight to Canada in connection with the 2023 Arctic Winter Games. Access to several research camps on the Greenland ice sheet, including the Danish field camp North GRIP and the American Summit Camp, have been handled through Kangerlussuaq via the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard. At a late 2011 Air Greenland meeting, plans to move the main Greenland intercontinental air hub away from Kangerlussuaq were agreed upon. According to the 2011 plan, three 1,199-metre (3,934 ft) airstrips will be built: a new airport at Qaqortoq, as well as extensions at Nuuk and Ilulissat. New airports will probably also be built at Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit later. Alongside Kangerlussuaq, the airports at Narsarsuaq and Kulusuk (if Tasiilaq is built) will also be closed. Generally, a number of the airstrips have been built by the US military at locations deliberately away from major settlements, partly due to the Danish policy to downplay the presence of the US military in Greenland. There was also a concern for the need to renovate the Kangerlussuaq runway for a fairly high cost, as the permafrost is melting underneath it. A decision was made in 2016 to extend the runways of both Nuuk and Ilulissat airports to 2,200 m (7,218 ft), allowing them to receive medium size jetliners from Denmark, and also to replace Narsarsuaq with a new airport at Qaqortoq. Construction at Nuuk Airport started late 2019. Due to the runway stability problems at Kangerlussuaq, it was initially thought that this would eventually lead to the closure or restricted use of its runway. However, in 2024 it was clarified that Kangerlussuaq Airport would remain open and there will continue to be unrestricted access for larger civilian aircraft. Even though most international traffic will move to Nuuk and Ilulissat, Kangerlussuaq will remain important, partly due to its more stable weather and longer runway. Cruise ships want to exchange passengers at Greenland because the long journey time to Greenland and back to home is unsuitable for many passengers. They need a reliable airport with few delays because cruise ships have firm planned schedules with booked ports and land activities. For this reason, in 2018 plans were approved to build a better port near Kangerlussuaq together with a 15 km (9.3 mi) road to the airport. As of 2018, the small port cannot take cruise ships nor large freight ships, so transfer boats are needed.