Keflavík International Airport, also known as Reykjavík-Keflavík Airport, is located west of Keflavík and Reykjavík in Iceland. Spread over 25km², it is the largest airport in Iceland. It is operated by Isavia, an Iceland government enterprise. The airport is hub for several airlines including Bluebird Cargo, Icelandair Cargo and Islandsflug.
The airport was built as a bomber air field by the US Army in 1943 during WWII. It was then known as Meeks Field. It was built at Keflavík to support the Army’s airfield operations including heavy bombers. The US military and civilian contractor crews started construction of the Meeks field in July 1942.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
The construction work was later taken over by the US Navy Seabees battalion which had completed the work by March 1943.
During WWII the airport was only used for military operations, but at the end of the war it became a refuelling stop for international civil aviation crossing the Atlantic. After the withdrawal of the US forces from the base in 1947 the airfield was handed over to the Icelandic government, which renamed it Keflavík Airport.
The airport was under the control of Nato from 1951 to 2006. In January 2009 the control was handed over to Isavia which operated all the navigational aids and airport facilities.
The airport handled more than 1.7m passenger movements in 2010. In 2009, the airport handled 36,880t of cargo.
Terminal
The Keflavík airport has a single terminal known as Leifur Eiríksson Air Terminal which was opened in 1987 and extended in 2001. In early 2008, the terminal was expanded with 16,500ft² of terminal facilities.
The terminal is facilitated with arrival and departure lounges and duty-free shopping stores. The terminal has four duty-free stores located at south building.
Facilities
The airport is equipped with 25 check-in desks, three baggage claim belts, 14 gates and restaurants. It also has cargo facilities such as a 6,700m² warehouse, deep freeze storage, security for valuables, a transit zone and heated storage.
Runways
The Keflavík airport has two runways designated 02/20 and 11/29, which are 3,054m and 3,065m long respectively. The runways are surfaced with asphalt and equipped with CAT II facilities which can serve all types of aircraft in a non-congested 24 hour operation.
Air traffic control
The air traffic control centre (ATC) at Keflavik airport provides all the navigation and airport operation services.
The airport has a flight data processing system (FDPS) which was commissioned in April 2002. The air space managed by the ATC is 5.4m km². The air traffic has increased from 5,500 flights in 1950 to 92,680 in 2000.
In 2009, Keflavik International Airport contracted Tern Systems to replace the current ATC system at the airport. The existing tower system will be replaced with Tern ATC Automation System (TAS), which will modernise the working environment for ATC technicians and controllers at the airport.
The new ATC provides short-term conflict alerts, improved safety for aircraft operations and approach path monitoring.
Car parking
The airport has 1,150 long-term and 365 short-term parking spaces. The short-term parking facilities are available on both sides of the terminal. The long-term parking facilities are located at a distance from the terminal. Indoor car parking facilities are provided by Alex.
Ground transportation
The airport is served by plenty of public transport options. Flybus provides shuttle buses from the BSI Bus Terminal in Reykjavik to correspond with the arrival and departure flights at the airport.
Aoalstooin and Okuleioir taxi operator services are available at the airport. Car rental services are offered by ALP Car Rental, Avis, Budget, Hertz and National.
