Keflavík International Airport

Keflavík International Airport Keflavíkurflugvöllur
IATA: KEF ICAO: BIKF
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Owner/Operator	Isavia Limited
Serves	Greater Reykjavík Area, Iceland
Location	Sandgerði, Iceland
Hub for	Icelandair WOW air
Elevation AMSL	52 m / 171 ft
Coordinates	63°59′06″N 22°36′20″W / 63.98500°N 22.60556°W / 63.98500; -22.60556Coordinates: 63°59′06″N 22°36′20″W / 63.98500°N 22.60556°W / 63.98500; -22.60556
Website	www.kefairport.is/english/
Map
KEF/BIKF Location in Iceland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 3,054 10,020 Asphalt 10/28 3,065 10,056 Asphalt
Statistics
Passengers (2016) 6.821.358 Cargo (2012) 38,986 t
Sources:[1] AIP Iceland at ICAA[2] Statistics: Isavia Limited[3][4]

Keflavík International Airport (Icelandic: Keflavíkurflugvöllur) (IATA: KEF, ICAO: BIKF), also known as Reykjavík-Keflavík Airport, is the largest airport in Iceland and the country's main hub for international transportation. The airport is 1.7 nautical miles (3.1 km; 2.0 mi) west of Keflavík^[2] and 50 km (31 mi) southwest of Reykjavík. The airport has three runways, two of which are in use, and the airport area is about 25 km² (9.7 sq mi). Most international journeys to or from Iceland pass through this airport.

The main carriers at Keflavík are Icelandair and WOW air, each of which has the airport as its main hub. The airport is almost exclusively used for international flights; most domestic flights use Reykjavík Airport, which lies 3 km (1.9 mi) from Reykjavík's city centre, although seasonal flights from Akureyri fly to Keflavík. Keflavík Airport is operated by Isavia, a government enterprise.

History

Early years

Originally, the airport was built by the United States military during World War II and opened on March 23, 1943. The U.S. named it Meeks Field after a young pilot, George Meeks, who died on the Reykjavík airfield. After the war, the airport and the base were returned to Iceland's control and were renamed for the nearby town of Keflavík. In 1951, the U.S. military returned to the airport under a defense agreement between Iceland and the U.S. signed on 5 May 1951.^[5]

Development since the 1950s

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.

The presence of foreign military forces in Iceland under the NATO sponsored Iceland–U.S. Defense Agreement of 1951 was controversial in Iceland, which had no indigenous military forces other than the Icelandic Coast Guard. 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 km (31 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. One of the participants was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who later became the first female President of Iceland.

The former Agreed Military Area at Keflavík was re-designated "Airport, Security and Development Area" under the supervision of the Keflavík International Airport Ltd. (established 1 January 2009), the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Keflavík Airport Development Corporation (Kadeco), respectively. The Coast Guard maintains hangars for military aircraft as well as ammunition depots, air defence radars and other military equipment for national defence. The former military encampment area (U.S. Naval Air Station Keflavík) being developed by Kadeco has been named Ásbrú to reflect its new role. The airport is in the little village named Sandgerði, but the runway leads to Keflavík.

The 3,000-metre-long (10,000 ft) and 61-metre-wide (200 ft) runways are long enough to support NASA's Space Shuttle and also the Antonov An-225. On 29 June 1999, Concorde G-BOAA flew from Heathrow Airport to Reykjavík (Keflavík airport). The Concorde had been there earlier.^[6] The airport is also an important emergency landing runway for large aircraft in transatlantic operation in the ETOPS system, which requires aircraft to always have less than a certain distance from a suitable landing site.^[7] For many two-engine aircraft this is two or three hours with malfunction in one engine, so it would have been disallowed to cross the Atlantic Ocean with many two-engine aircraft if this airport didn't exist.

Facilities

The terminal is named after Leif Erikson who was the first European to arrive in North America^[8] (Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar, "Air terminal Leif Erikson"). It was opened 6 April 1987 and separated the airport's civil traffic 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 the Schengen Agreement. The North Building was later enlarged and finished in 2007. The terminal has duty-free stores in the departure and arrival lounges. In 2016, the current terminal was expanded.^[9] The expansion added 7 gates.^[10] There are also plans to add a third runway.^[11]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Although the population of Iceland is only about 300,000, there are scheduled flights to and from numerous locations across North America and Europe. The largest carrier operating out of Keflavík is Icelandair. On 23 October 2012 WOW air acquired Iceland Express^[12] making it the second largest Icelandic carrier and the second largest at Keflavík. The airport only handles international flights (except for flights to Akureyri in connection with certain Air Iceland Connect flights to Greenland); domestic flights and flights to Greenland are operated from Reykjavík's domestic airport.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Keflavík:^[13]

Cargo

Statistics

Busiest destinations

Departure area

Passenger terminal exterior

Busiest destinations from Keflavík (2015)^[23]

Rank	Airport	Passengers
1.	London–Gatwick, London–Heathrow, London–Luton	653,508
2.	Copenhagen	437,182
3.	New York-JFK, New York–Newark	309,827
4.	Oslo–Gardermoen	301,713
5.	Boston	271,041
6.	Paris–Charles de Gaulle	266,689
7.	Amsterdam	203,466
8.	Stockholm–Arlanda	167,847
9.	Frankfurt	144,682
10.	Toronto–Pearson	125,463
11.	Berlin–Schönefeld, Berlin–Tegel	123,367
12.	Seattle–Tacoma	118,793
13.	Manchester	110,608
14.	Helsinki	110,166
15.	Washington–Dulles	110,107
16.	Munich	103,140
17.	Denver	87,259
18.	Glasgow–International	74,719
19.	Edmonton	65,900
20.	Bergen	59,687

Passenger numbers

Access

Transport between the airport and Reykjavík city is by road only. The distance is 50 km. A new dual carriageway road (route 41) was opened in 2008. Buses are operated by Airport Express, Flybus and Strætó bs to Reykjavík.^[25] Taxis are available outside the terminal. Rental cars are available from various companies.^[26]

Accidents and incidents

• On 21 July 2013, a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner, prototype aircraft 97005, made a belly landing during a test flight. The cause was a crew mistake due to fatigue. They operated the plane manually in order to simulate failures.^[27][28]
• On 28 April 2017, a Primera Air Boeing 737-800 skidded off an icy runway.^[29]

References

External links

Media related to Keflavík International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Airport information for KEF
• Charts for KEF / BIKF
• KADECO
• The Icelandic Defence Agency
• Current aviation weather for Keflavík