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Keflavík International Airport

Coordinates:63°59′06″N22°36′20″W/ 63.98500°N 22.60556°W/63.98500; -22.60556
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This article is about the international airport. For Reykjavík's domestic airport, seeReykjavík Airport.

Keflavík Airport

Keflavíkurflugvöllur
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorIsavia ohf.
ServesGreater Reykjavík Area
LocationSuðurnesjabær,Iceland
Opened23 March 1943;81 years ago(1943-03-23)
Hubfor
ElevationAMSL52 m / 171 ft
Coordinates63°59′06″N22°36′20″W/ 63.98500°N 22.60556°W/63.98500; -22.60556
Websitewww.isavia.is/en/keflavik-airport
Map
KEF/BIKF is located in Iceland
KEF/BIKF
KEF/BIKF
Location of airport in Iceland
KEF/BIKF is located in Arctic
KEF/BIKF
KEF/BIKF
KEF/BIKF (Arctic)
KEF/BIKF is located in Europe
KEF/BIKF
KEF/BIKF
KEF/BIKF (Europe)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 3,054 10,020 Asphalt
10/28 3,065 10,056 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Total passengers7,776,147
Aircraft movements76.575
Sources:[1]AIPIceland at ICAA[2]
Statistics: Isavia Limited[3][4]

Keflavík Airport(Icelandic:Keflavíkurflugvöllur[ˈcʰɛplaˌviːkʏrˌflʏɣˌvœtlʏr̥]) (IATA:KEF,ICAO:BIKF), also known asReykjavík–Keflavík Airport,is the largestairportinIcelandand the country's mainhubfor international transportation. The airport is 1.7 nautical miles (3.1 kilometres) west ofKeflavík[2]and 50 km (30 mi) southwest ofReykjavík.The airport has three runways, two of which are in use, and the airport area is about 25 km2(10 sq mi).[citation needed]Most international journeys to or from Iceland pass through this airport.

The main carrier at Keflavík isIcelandair,which has the airport as its main hub. The airport is only used for international flights; all domestic flights use the much smallerReykjavík Airport,which lies three kilometres (two miles) from Reykjavík's city centre. Keflavík Airport is operated byIsavia,a government enterprise.

History

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Early years

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Originally, the airport was built by theUnited States militaryduringWorld War II,as a replacement for a small British landing strip atGarðurto the north. It consisted of two separate two-runway airfields, built simultaneously just 4 km apart.Patterson Fieldin the south-east opened in 1942 despite being partly incomplete. It was named after a young pilot who died in Iceland.Meeks Fieldto the north-west opened on 23 March 1943. It was named after another young pilot, George Meeks, who died on theReykjavík airfield.Patterson Field was closed after the war, but Meeks Field and the adjoining structures were returned to Iceland's control and were renamedNaval Air Station Keflavik,for the nearby town of Keflavík. In 1951, the U.S. military returned to the airport under a defence agreement between Iceland and the U.S. signed on 5 May 1951.[5]

Development since the 1950s

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With the reestablishment of the military air base at Keflavík during the 1950s, the air terminal found itself in the middle of a secure military zone. Travelers had to pass through military check points to reach their flights, until 1987, when the civilian terminal was relocated.[6]

The presence of foreign military forces in Iceland under theNATO-sponsored Iceland–U.S. Defense Agreement of 1951 was controversial in Iceland, which had no military forces other than theIcelandic Coast Guard.[7]During the 1960s and 1970s, rallies were held to protest the U.S. military presence in Iceland (and in particular at Keflavík), and every year protesters walked the 50-kilometre (30 mi) road from Reykjavík to Keflavík and chanted "Ísland úr NATO, herinn burt" (literally: Iceland out of NATO, the military away). The protests were not effective.

The two 3,000-metre-long (10,000 ft) and 60-metre-wide (200 ft) runways were large enough to supportNASA'sSpace Shuttleas well as theAntonov An-225.On 29 June 1999,ConcordeG-BOAA flew fromHeathrow Airportto Reykjavík (Keflavik airport). The Concorde had been there earlier.[8]The airport is also an important emergency landing runway for large aircraft in transatlantic operation in theETOPSsystem, which requires aircraft to always have less than a certain flight time from a suitable landing site.[9]The United States military base closed down in 2006.

The airport was used as a hub byWOW airuntil it ceased operations on 28 March 2019.[10]

Facilities

[edit]

The terminal is named afterLeif Eriksonwho was the first European to arrive in North America[11](Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar[is],"Leif Erikson Air Terminal" ). It was opened in April 1987[12]and separated the airport'sciviltraffic from the military base. It was later extended with the opening of the South Building in 2001 (not a separate terminal) to comply with the requirements of theSchengen Agreement.The North Building was later enlarged and finished in 2007. The terminal hasduty-free storesin the departure and arrival lounges. In 2016, the current terminal was expanded.[13]The expansion added seven gates.[14]There are also plans to add a third runway.[15]

Airlines and destinations

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Passenger

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Although the population of Iceland is only about 370,000, there are scheduled flights to and from numerous locations across North America and Europe. The largest carrier operating out of Keflavik isIcelandair.Play,which also uses Keflavik as a hub, is the second largest Icelandic carrier in 2022.[3]WOW Airwas the second largest Icelandic carrier and the second largest at Keflavík, following its acquisition ofIceland Expresson 23 October 2012,[16]until it ceased operations on 28 March 2019.[10]The airport only handles international flights; domestic flights are operated fromReykjavík's domestic airport.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Keflavík:[17]

AirlinesDestinations
Air CanadaSeasonal:Montréal–Trudeau,Toronto–Pearson
Air GreenlandNuuk
Seasonal:Ilulissat
airBalticRiga,Tallinn(begins 14 May 2025)[18]
Atlantic AirwaysVágar
Austrian AirlinesSeasonal:Vienna
British AirwaysLondon–Heathrow
Delta Air LinesSeasonal:Detroit,Minneapolis/St. Paul,New York–JFK
Discover AirlinesSeasonal:Munich(begins 3 April 2025)[19]
easyJetEdinburgh,London–Luton,Manchester,Milan–Malpensa,Paris–Orly[20]
Seasonal:Birmingham(begins 3 December 2024),[21]Bristol,London–Gatwick
Edelweiss AirZürich
EurowingsSeasonal:Düsseldorf,Hamburg,Stuttgart[22]
FinnairHelsinki
Iberia ExpressSeasonal:Madrid
Icelandair[23]Alicante,Amsterdam,Baltimore,Barcelona,Berlin,Boston,Brussels,Chicago–O'Hare,Copenhagen,[24]Denver,[25]Dublin,[26]Frankfurt,Glasgow,[27]Helsinki,[28]Kulusuk,London–Gatwick,London–Heathrow,Manchester,Munich,Newark,New York–JFK,[29]Nuuk,[30]Oslo,Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[31]Prague,Raleigh/Durham,Rome–Fiumicino,Seattle/Tacoma,Stockholm–Arlanda,Tenerife–South,Toronto–Pearson,Vancouver,[32]Washington–Dulles,Zürich
Seasonal:Akureyri,1Bergen,Billund,Detroit,Geneva,Gran Canaria,Halifax,[33]Hamburg,Ilulissat,Innsbruck,[34]Lisbon(begins 11 October 2024),[35]Madrid,Milan–Malpensa,Minneapolis/St. Paul,Narsarsuaq,Nice,Orlando,Pittsburgh,[36]Portland (OR),Salzburg,Vágar,Verona
Jet2.comSeasonal:Belfast–International,Birmingham,Bristol,East Midlands,Edinburgh,Glasgow,Leeds/Bradford,Liverpool(begins 30 November 2025),[37]London–Stansted,Manchester,Newcastle upon Tyne
LufthansaFrankfurt
Seasonal:Munich
NeosSeasonal:Alicante,Málaga,Tenerife–South,Verona
Norwegian Air Shuttle[38]Seasonal:Oslo
Play[39]Alicante,Amsterdam,Baltimore,Barcelona,Berlin,Boston,Copenhagen,Dublin,Hamilton (ON),Lisbon,London–Stansted,Madrid,Málaga,Newburgh,Paris–Charles de Gaulle,Tenerife–South,Washington–Dulles
Seasonal:Aalborg(resumes 7 June 2025),[40]Athens,Billund,Bologna,Brussels,Cardiff(begins 10 October 2024),[41]Düsseldorf,Faro(begins 12 April 2025),[42]Fuerteventura,Funchal(begins 15 October 2024),[43]Geneva,Gothenburg,Gran Canaria,Hamburg,Liverpool,Marrakesh(begins 17 October 2024),[43]Palma de Mallorca,Porto,Prague,Salzburg,Split,[44]Stockholm–Arlanda,Venice,Verona,Vilnius,[45]Warsaw–Chopin
Scandinavian AirlinesCopenhagen,Oslo
TransaviaAmsterdam,Paris–Orly
TUI AirwaysSeasonal:Bristol,London–Gatwick,Manchester
United AirlinesSeasonal:Chicago–O'Hare,Newark[46]
VuelingBarcelona
WestJetSeasonal:Calgary[47]
Wizz AirBudapest,Gdańsk,Katowice,Kraków,Milan–Malpensa,Rome–Fiumicino,Vienna,Warsaw–Chopin

^1Icelandair's service between Akureyri and Keflavík is available only to connecting passengers flying with the airline internationally.[48]

Cargo

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AirlinesDestinations
Icelandair Cargo[49]Boston,[50]Liège,Los Angeles[51][52]

Statistics

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Airport Map
Aerial view of the main buildings
Terminal seen from platform
Main waiting area
Annual passenger traffic at KEF airport. SeeWikidata query.

Passenger numbers

[edit]
Year Passengers[53][54] Change
2004 1,883,725
2005 2,101,679 +11.6%
2006 2,272,917 +8.1%
2007 2,429,144 +6.9%
2008 2,193,434 -9.7%
2009 1,832,944 -16.4%
2010 2,065,188 +12.7%
2011 2,474,806 +19.8%
2012 2,764,026 +11.7%
2013 3,209,848 +16.1%
2014 3,867,425 +20.5%
2015 4,855,505 +25.5%
2016 6,821,358 +40.4%
2017 8,755,352 +28.3%
2018 9,804,388 +12.0%
2019 7,247,820 -26.08%
2020 1,373,971 -81.04%
2021 2,171,996 +58.1%
2022 6,126,421 +182.01%
2023 7,776,147 +26.9%

Busiest destinations (from 2018 estimates)

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Busiest routes to/from Keflavik (2018)[55]
Rank Airport Passengers Operator(s)
1 Copenhagen 582,199 Icelandair, Play, SAS
2 London–Gatwick 467,032 easyJet, Icelandair, Norwegian, TUI Airways
3 Amsterdam 449,590 Icelandair, Transavia
4 Paris–Charles de Gaulle 443,312 Icelandair, Play
5 London–Heathrow 378,029 British Airways, Icelandair
6 Frankfurt 355,520 Icelandair, Lufthansa
7 Boston 330,792 Icelandair
8 Newark 327,046 Icelandair, United
9 New York–JFK 323,781 Delta, Icelandair
10 Oslo 313,713 Icelandair, Norwegian, SAS

Ground transport

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Transport between the airport and downtown Reykjavik is a 50-kilometre (30 mi) journey onRoute 41.Buses are operated by Airport Express, Flybus, andStrætó bsto Reykjavík.[56]Taxis are available outside the terminal. Rental cars are available from various companies.[57]

Accidents and incidents

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Vísir – Enn eitt metið slegið í fjölda farþega sem fara um Keflavíkurflugvöll".Visir.is. 14 November 2013.Archivedfrom the original on 16 November 2013.Retrieved14 November2013.
  2. ^ab"BIKF – Keflavík"(PDF).Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration.Archived(PDF)from the original on 12 August 2009.Retrieved25 August2009.
  3. ^ab"Aviation Fact Profile 2022"(PDF).
  4. ^"Cargo Statistics 2012".Kefairport.is.Isavia Limited. Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2013.Retrieved22 October2013.
  5. ^"U.S. Government Debated Secret Nuclear Deployments in Iceland".National Security Archive.George Washington University. 15 August 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 5 December 2016.Retrieved10 December2016.
  6. ^Sullivan, Paul (1 August 2011).Waking Up in Iceland.Bobcat Books. p. 164.ISBN978-0-85712-446-3.
  7. ^Kochis, Daniel; Slattery, Brian (21 June 2016)."Iceland: Outsized Importance for Transatlantic Security".The Heritage Foundation.Archivedfrom the original on 10 January 2018.Retrieved9 January2018.
  8. ^"Concorde to Iceland – The Ultimate Day Trip Trailer – Plato Video".YouTube. 21 April 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 6 April 2017.Retrieved30 November2016.
  9. ^"Annex 6 – Operation of Aircraft"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 29 March 2017.Retrieved24 May2017.
  10. ^ab"End of Operation of WOW AIR".Icelandic Transport Authority.Archivedfrom the original on 28 March 2019.Retrieved28 March2019.WOW AIR has ceased operation. All WOW AIR flights have been cancelled.
  11. ^Read description and sources to his life and discovery inLeif Erikson
  12. ^Saga og menningArchived22 February 2018 at theWayback Machine,Keflavik Airport website.
  13. ^"Hugmyndir um að reisa nýja flugstöð"(in Icelandic). ruv. 19 July 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 3 October 2013.Retrieved13 February2013.
  14. ^"Metfjöldi farþega á Keflavíkurflugvelli í fyrra – Mikil aukning fjórða árið í röð".Isavia.is.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2014.Retrieved3 January2014.
  15. ^"Hugmyndir um nýja flugbraut á Keflavíkurflugvelli"(in Icelandic). visir. Archived fromthe originalon 8 May 2014.Retrieved13 February2013.
  16. ^"WOW air acquires Iceland Express".Archived fromthe originalon 13 November 2012.Retrieved27 October2012.
  17. ^kefairport.is – Timetablesretrieved 18 September 2022
  18. ^"airBaltic launches 16 new routes across the Baltic States, expands connectivity".Aviation24.be.
  19. ^"Discover Airlines NS25 Europe Network Additions Summary – 18AUG24".Aeroroutes.Retrieved20 August2024.
  20. ^"News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA".
  21. ^"EasyJet adds 33 routes from UK to winter 2024-25 schedule".
  22. ^Liu, Jim (30 November 2023)."Eurowings NS24 Network Additions – 30NOV23".AeroRoutes.
  23. ^"Our Flight Schedule".Icelandair.
  24. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  25. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  26. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  27. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  28. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  29. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  30. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  31. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  32. ^https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240820-fins25[bare URL]
  33. ^"Icelandair extends network with new destinations and increased frequency".Icelandair(Press release). GlobeNewsWire. 2 November 2023.
  34. ^"Flights to Innsbruck in Austria".Icelandair.
  35. ^"Icelandair hefur flug til Lissabon"(Press release). Viðskiptablaðið. 25 June 2024.
  36. ^Belko, Mark (2 November 2023)."Pittsburgh International Airport to get seasonal nonstop to Iceland in May".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Retrieved2 November2023.
  37. ^"Jet2 announces 'once in a lifetime trips' from Liverpool John Lennon Airport".liverpoolecho.co.uk.20 June 2024.
  38. ^"Route map".norwegian.com.
  39. ^"PLAY NW24 North America Service Reductions".Aeroroutes.
  40. ^https://insideflyer.dk/play-atter-tilbage-i-aalborg-lufthavn/[bare URL]
  41. ^McNeill, Linsey (18 April 2024)."PLAY launches half term flights from Cardiff to Iceland".Travel Gossip.Retrieved18 April2024.
  42. ^https://www.sulinformacao.pt/en/2024/08/play-airlines-lanca-voo-entre-faro-e-a-islandia-com-um-pe-na-america-do-norte/
  43. ^ab"PLAY Airlines expands service with flights from Madeira and from Marrakech to Iceland".5 March 2024.
  44. ^"Iceland and Croatia connected for the first time with a regular route".AvioRadar.17 January 2024.
  45. ^"PLAY Schedules Regular Vilnius Service From late-May 2024".AeroRoutes.13 February 2024.Retrieved13 February2024.
  46. ^Schlappig, Ben (26 October 2023)."United Airlines' Transatlantic Expansion For 2024".One Mile At A Time.
  47. ^Liu, Jim (15 November 2023)."WestJet NS24 Long-Haul Network Expansion".AeroRoutes.
  48. ^Liu, Jim (2 June 2023)."Icelandair Adds Reykjavik Keflavik - Akureyri Service in 4Q23".AeroRoutes.Retrieved4 June2023.
  49. ^icelandaircargo.com - Flight scheduleretrieved 18 September 2022
  50. ^"Flight Schedule".
  51. ^"Icelandair's Second 767 Freighter to Allow U.S. West Coast Services | Aviation Week Network".
  52. ^"Icelandair expands at Liege with new 767-300BCF".
  53. ^"Passenger statisticsm".kefairport.is.Retrieved19 February2022.
  54. ^"2022".
  55. ^"Database – Eurostat".ec.europa.eu.Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2017.Retrieved24 May2017.
  56. ^"Airport Shuttle from Keflavík Airport, Iceland - Keflavík International Airport - Kefairport.com".kefairport.is.Archivedfrom the original on 20 July 2016.Retrieved21 July2016.
  57. ^"Car Rental/Car Hire at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland - Kefairport.com".kefairport.is.Archivedfrom the original on 20 July 2016.Retrieved21 July2016.
  58. ^"Accident: Sukhoi SU95 at Keflavik on Jul 21st 2013, belly landing".Avherald.com.Archivedfrom the original on 23 September 2015.Retrieved21 July2013.
  59. ^"Accident description".Aviation Safety Network. March 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 9 August 2016.Retrieved15 June2016.
  60. ^"ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 195078".Aviation Safety Network.28 April 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2017.Retrieved15 May2017.
  61. ^Ranter, Harro."ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 757-256 (WL) TF-FIA Keflavík International Airport (KEF)".aviation-safety.net.Retrieved11 August2021.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toKeflavík International Airport.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide forKeflavík International Airport.
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