Qaanaaq Airport — Qaanaaq, Greenland

Qaanaaq Airport (NAQ) serves Qaanaaq, one of the northernmost permanently inhabited towns in the world, located in the Avannaata municipality of northwestern Greenland. NAQ is a critical lifeline for this remote Inughuit (Polar Inuit) community, connecting it to other Greenlandic settlements via small aircraft since the region is icebound much of the year, limiting sea access. The airport has a short gravel runway suited to small STOL aircraft, and flights are often affected by extreme Arctic weather and seasonal darkness during the polar winter. Qaanaaq's traditional hunting culture and its extreme high-latitude location make NAQ one of the more unique and logistically challenging airports in the world.