Greenland opens new international airport to lure tourists

ILULISSAT, Greenland -- ILULISSAT, Greenland (AP) — Greenland has opened a new international airport, seeking to lure visitors from around the world as the Arctic island looks toward eventual independence from Denmark.Thursday's inaugural international flight between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ilulissat, Greenland, was part of the island government's efforts to grow its tourism industry to boost and diversify an economy still reliant on fishing.Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen described the new airport as “one of the biggest investments” in the island’s history. Nielsen was one of 169 passengers on Thursday's 4.5-hour flight on an Airbus A330neo. An Associated Press journalist also took the flight, operated by government-owned Air Greenland, as part of a trip organized by tourism agency Visit Greenland, for this story.“If Greenland wants to be independent, we need to have a strong foundation, both economically and in terms of industry and business,” Nielsen told the AP before the plane departed.The strategic island, home to roughly 56,000 people, has been a focus of U.S. President Donald Trump since his first term, when he initially expressed his desire to acquire Gre...