The island−merely 23 km (14 mi) away in a direct line across Sarqarput Strait−is too small and rocky to host an airport of sufficient size to accommodate fixed-wing aircraft of Air Greenland.

The airport thus functions as a mini-hub for Uummannaq,[4] with the terminal building labelled 'Uummannaq', regardless of its actual location, registration, documentation, and existing booking systems.

The decision to build the airport in Qaarsut was intended to solve the bottleneck on the Ilulissat-Uummannaq route (164 km), until then operated by Air Greenland with Sikorsky S-61N helicopters.

Acquired in 1965, they are the oldest machines in the fleet of the airline,[5] still in operation year-round in southern Greenland and during wintertime in the Disko Bay area south of Qaarsut.

[10] Sunk costs, tourism potential for northwestern and northern Greenland, and the 2010 reinvigoration of the mining activities in Maamorilik northeast of Ukkusissat, as well as on Appat Island in the future[11]−are the primary reasons for keeping the airport open.