Iceland’s main airport, Keflavík International Airport (KEF), posted a 101% passenger recovery in July 2022 versus July 2019, fueled by the summer season and high passenger demand.
High travel demand
In the last few months, Iceland has become one of the hottest destinations in Europe for many reasons. The country offers incredible views, fantastic food and people, reasonable fares from different airlines, and an erupting volcano located in the same peninsula as the airport (with PLAY even giving away free tickets to see this amazing natural phenomenon); there’s no surprise why Iceland has become a hot spot for tourists.
On average, Keflavík International Airport is currently receiving around 575 weekly flights operated by 26 airlines, according to data provided by Cirium. Icelandair leads the market, with 342 flights or 59.4% of the share. Despite the loss of ultra-low-cost carrier WOW Air, Keflavík already has 2.9% more flights than it did in 2019, and seat capacity has fully rebounded.
Back in full force
In July, the number of passengers passing through Keflavík Airport was higher than in July 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airport had 852,431 passengers, a 101% recovery compared to 2019. To ensure the recovery of Keflavík, the airport’s strategy, set out in 2021, has been to improve overall connectivity and increase the routes offered to and from KEF in cooperation with different airlines. According to Isavia, the company that manages 13 airports in Iceland, these plans have exceeded all expectations.
Last month, domestic and foreign airlines flew to 77 destinations worldwide, and 78.2% of the total departing passengers were foreign. Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson, Director of Business and Development at Isavia, said,
“It's great to see how willing the airlines were to rapidly increase the availability of flights to and from Iceland. Now it is important to continue the good work done in developing Keflavík Airport to meet this growing demand.”
Throughout the year, Keflavík has received 3.15 million passengers. That’s a 73% recovery compared to the passenger levels the airport had in 2019, when it saw more than 4.31 million travelers by July.
New taxiway and the eruption
Keflavík Airport is currently in the midst of the construction of a new 1,200-meter taxiway for aircraft, as well as new buildings on the new east wing, which is over 20,000 square meters in size. The new east wing will improve the experience of passengers and airlines from 2024. It will also help the airport handle the larger number of aircraft expected in the next few years due to PLAY and Icelandair's plans to expand their fleet.
"Although the airport's operation has been successful during the summer months, we ask passengers to be patient. At the same time, Isavia would like to thank the airport staff, airlines, and partners for their important contribution in getting everything back into operation at the airport," Guðmundur Daði said.
Finally, with regards to the volcanic eruption currently taking place on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Keflavík Airport announced it is relatively small and, due to its location, there it is classified as a low threat to populated areas or critical infrastructure. Additionally, there have been no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland, and international flight corridors remain open.