Becoming Familiar with Unfamiliar Places
When flying to the USA from Europe in a small to mid-size jet, you will have to stop for refuelling. Given the size of the Atlantic and its geography, it will mean a fuel stop in a few unfamiliar airports that are not on the typical tourist hit list. These include Gander, Canada; Goose Bay, Canada; Keflavik, Iceland; and Narsarsuaq, Greenland. If your aircraft has a range less than 2700nm, you will have to stop in at least one of these places.
For instance, if you are in a Cessna Citation CJ2 flying from the UK to the USA, you will have to stop at Keflavik, then Narsarsauq, and then either Gandor or Goose Bay before heading on to the USA. In a jet the size of a Bombardier Lear 60, you would be able to cut out the Narsarsuaq stop.
If you often travel to the USA, it could be worth considering a longer range aircraft to minimize your stop-overs, but we would only recommend this if you do these trips on a frequent basis. Otherwise, stopping over at these small airports is not an issue, but will add time to your journey. Forward planning is always important, but these airports are very accustomed to ferry flight fuel stops and make it as efficient as possible. If time is of no issue, make the most of it and spend a little time to see the surrounding areas – it is not every day that business travel takes you to Greenland. One of the joys of private aviation is that it expands your horizons, and these stop-over destinations certainly fits into that category.
(Map from http://freevectormaps.com)
