Nuuk Airport serves Greenland's capital city of the same name and is the hub for Greenland Air. It also shuts down for several hours on the first day of reindeer season.
According to AeroExplorer, a United flight was scheduled to depart from Nuuk at 9:00 a.m. on August 3rd, but was delayed for over three hours because the entire security crew had skipped work to hunt reindeer. While no doubt surprising to the non-Greenlandic passengers on the flight, taking time off for hunting is part of the culture there. Hunting and storing up meat isn't a hobby in a country that can be cut off from European ships for months at a time; it's a necessity.
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."
Previously:
• Greenland isn't green, and other fun facts
• Trump wants to buy Greenland. The country.
• Terrifying footage shot by fisherman caught in Greenland tsunami
