Greenland Opens International Airport at Ilulissat; Perth Airport at Scone Reminds World It Has a Very Nice Café
Arctic town gets long-haul ambitions. Perth's own aerodrome, meanwhile, offers flying lessons, helicopters and a bacon roll.
Ilulissat, which now has an international airport. Perth has a bacon roll. Photo: Ekrem Canli, “Ilulissat panorama from SW large”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Greenland’s Ilulissat — population around 5,000, icebergs considerably more — has opened its new international airport, giving one of the world’s most spectacular towns direct links with the outside world.
In Perth, the news was greeted with a degree of envy. “Five thousand people and they’ve got an international airport,” said a man in Scone. “We’ve got 50,000 people and we’ve got to drive to Edinburgh. With the A9 and the M90, I could be in Greenland faster.”
Perth Airport at Scone pointed out that it already offers flying lessons, helicopter flights and, according to regulars, “a very decent bacon roll”, which is more than many international airports can say.
Aviation experts say Greenland’s new runway can handle larger jets bringing tourists to see the Ilulissat Icefjord. Perth’s aviation experts say they can see a glacier any morning in January, on their windscreen.
Greenland’s tourism board has not yet expressed an interest in twinning with Perth, but Aberfeldy is said to be “keeping its options open”.
The real story: World news (BBC)
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The bacon roll at Scone is genuinely world class. Greenland can’t compete.
— Mike T., Scone, 30 October 2026 -
I’d fly from Scone to anywhere if it meant not going up the M90 at 4am.
— Carol D., Perth, 30 October 2026
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