Vágar Airport

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Vágar Airport
Vága Floghavn
Vágar Lufthavn
IATA: FAE – ICAO: EKVG
Summary
Airport type Civil
Operator Civil Aviation Administration
Location Sørvágur, Faroe Islands
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 280 ft / 85 m
Coordinates 62°03′49″N 007°16′38″W / 62.06361°N 7.27722°W / 62.06361; -7.27722 (Vágar Airport)Coordinates: 62°03′49″N 007°16′38″W / 62.06361°N 7.27722°W / 62.06361; -7.27722 (Vágar Airport)
Website www.floghavn.fo
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 1,799 5,902 Asphalt
Statistics (2012[1])
Passengers 225,532
Movements 5,265
Source: Faroe Islands AIP at EUROCONTROL[2] and [3]
Map of Faroe Islands. Position of the airport marked with the red aeroplane.

Vágar Airport (Faroese: Vága Floghavn, Danish: Vágar Lufthavn) (IATA: FAE, ICAO: EKVG) is the only airport in the Faroe Islands, a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and is located 1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) east[2] of Sørvágur. Due to the Faroe Islands' rather anomalous status, the airport is not fully subject to the rules of the European Union. It is the main operating base for Faroese national airline Atlantic Airways and, for a short period during 2006, was also the base for the low cost airline FaroeJet.

History

Faroe Airways Douglas DC-3

The airport was built by British Royal Engineers during World War II on the island of Vágar. The site was chosen mainly because it was hard to see from the surrounding waters and any potential German warship. The first aeroplane landed here in Autumn 1942. (See British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II).

After the war the airfield was abandoned and left unused until 1963 when it was reopened as a civilian airport at the initiative of two Sørvágur residents, Hugo Fjørðoy and Lars Larsen. The two worked with the Icelandic airline Icelandair, which began the scheduled flights to Bergen, Copenhagen and Glasgow using a Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Soon a separate airline, Faroe Airways, operated flights. The company ceased operating on 28 September 1967. Until 2004 Maersk Air operated some flights in the airport along with Atlantic Airways.

Until 2002 travel to most locations in the Faroe Islands including the capital Tórshavn required a car ferry, but in 2002 a road tunnel was opened giving direct road access.

The runway was extended from 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) to 1,799 metres (5,902 ft) in 2011, allowing more plane types to be used.[4] Construction work started in May 2010, and on December 3, 2011, the extended runway was opened and put into use for the first time. [5] Previously only short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft such as the BAe 146 could use the airport. The Airbus A319 of Atlantic Airways is able to utilise the extended runway, and services of the type with Atlantic Airways began in March of 2012.[6]

Today

Since 2002, Vágar has had a toll road connection via a tunnel to the neighbouring island of Streymoy, where the Faroese capital Tórshavn is located.

The airport is currently managed by the Danish Transport Authority although the ownership of the airport was handed over to the Faroese government in May 2007. [7]

A number of domestic Faroese destinations can be reached from Vágar by the Atlantic Airways helicopter service. International destinations include Copenhagen, Aalborg and Billund in Denmark, Reykjavík in Iceland, Aberdeen and London in the United Kingdom, Narsarsuaq in Greenland, Oslo and Stavanger in Norway and Barcelona in Spain.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Atlantic Airways Bergen, Billund, Copenhagen, Reykjavík, Stavanger, Stord
Summer Seasonal: Aalborg, Barcelona, London-Stansted (begins 5 June 2014), Milan-Malpensa
Charter: Kristiansund, Trondheim
Atlantic Airways Helicopter Dímun, Froðba, Hattarvík, Kirkja, Klaksvík, Koltur, Mykines, Skúvoy, Svínoy, Tórshavn

Helicopter services go to remote islands as well as to the biggest towns. Some of these islands have fewer than 10 inhabitants.

  • A Boeing 737 aircraft lands

  • Ready for landing

  • An arrival from Billund

  • Atlantic Airways Avro RJ at Vágar Airport

Ground transport

There are bus services about 10 times each direction per day between the airport and Tórshavn. They take one hour. The "Vágatunnilin" tunnel (4.9 km) connects the airport and the Vágar island to the main cities and villages in the Faroe Islands.

Accidents and incidents

  • 3 August 1996: a Gulfstream III of the Danish Air Force crashed during final approach to Vágar Airport in bad weather and poor visibility. Nine people, including the Chief of Defence Jørgen Garde and his wife, perished as the aircraft collided with high terrain surrounding the airport.
  • 1989: an Atlantic Airways BAe 146-200 (registration OY-CRG, C/n / msn: E2075) aircraft failed to stop at the end of the runway and was subsequently out of service for 3 weeks.
  • 26 September 1970: Icelandair Fokker F27 originating in Copenhagen with a stopover in Bergen, Norway. The flight from Bergen to Vágar Airport crashed in bad weather on Mykines. Eight of the 34 passengers lost their lives, and the badly wounded were airlifted away by helicopter. A marble memorial was placed in the Church.

See also

  • List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fae.fo/Default.aspx?pageid=12782&sectionid=358
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 EAD Basic
  3. ↑ AIP Vágar - Faroe Islands
  4. ↑ "A 1.799 m. long runway and terminal for a total of DKK. 412". Oct 2009. 
  5. ↑ Celebrating the extended runway
  6. ↑ Atlantic Airways A319 enters service, March 28th. 2012
  7. ↑ Statens Luftfartsvæsen: Færøerne overtager Vagar Lufthavn

External links

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