Airport Guide

History of Keflavik International Airport

Once the United States entered the Second World War, it chose to construct a new airport on Iceland capable of serving as a stopping-off point for its air force flying to Europe.

As such, construction began on the air field in early 1942, with local companies working alongside the military, with the first combat flights arriving soon after.

Once the war was over, however, Keflavik continued to be put to military use until 2006, serving as an important mid-Atlantic refuelling point, much to the annoyance of many Icelanders, who protested against the NATO presence. During this time, civilian travellers flew alongside military personnel, though the civilian terminal was relocated in 1989 for logistical reasons.

Notably, its military past means Iceland's principal airport has a runway capable of welcoming the Space Shuttle as well as the giant Airbus A380.

Travelling to Keflavik International Airport

Located some 30 miles from the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik and close to the town of Keflavik, the international airport is only accessible by road.

Regular bus services do operates between the capital and the terminals, with services lined up to take into account the first and final flights of the day, though as many visitors to the country tend to hire a car to explore beyond the city limits, getting between the two points this way can often be easier.

Airlines Flying from Keflavik International Airport

The principal airlines operating out of Keflavik International Airport are Icelandair and IcelandExpress.

The former operates international flights to more than a dozen destinations across Europe and North America. These include Alicante, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin, Copenhagen, Halifax, London Heathrow, Manchester, Milan, New York JFK, Orlando, Paris and Toronto.

IcelandExpress, meanwhile, offers cheap flights to a number of European cities, including Barcelona, Berlin, London Stansted, Oslo, Paris and Warsaw.

Other airlines flying to Iceland include Germanwings, which runs routes to Cologne and Bonn, Futura International Airways, meanwhile flies to Gran Canaria, Palma de Mollorca, Malaga and Tenerife, and airberlin to Dusseldorf and Munich.

Edelweiss Air flies to Zurich, as does Swiss International, while Scandinavian Airlines System offers services to Stockholm and Oslo.