Eight years ago only 3 airlines flew to Iceland year-round, and an additional 4 airlines flew to Iceland during the summer months. This summer the figure is up to 26, 12 of which fly to Iceland year-round. The turning point was the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption and a concerted marketing effort by the Icelandic authorities and the tourism industry.
Read more: Seven years ago today: Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano with the un-pronouncable name
New connections to Asia
The latest route addition at Keflavík airport was a new Finnair link, connecting Iceland and Helsinki year-round. The link provides new direct connections between Iceland and Asia. WOW air has also discussed plans to flying direct to destinations in Asia.
The two Icelandic airlines, Icelandair and WOW air still handle most of the traffic. Icelandair supplies 51% of all seats to Keflavík airport and WOW air supplies 28%, The third largest airline at Keflavík is easyJet, with 4% followed by SAS with 3%. Other airlines supply 14% of the total seats.
No off-season any more
A spokesman for Isavia, which operates the Keflavík airport, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the airport had worked hard to market Iceland as a destination and to lure in new airlines. There are also things which have helped us, putting Iceland on the map, including the Eyjafjallajökull eruption and the 2016 EURO. He added that while the initiative originally came entirely from the airport, now foreign airlines are increasingly showing interest in opening up contacts.
In addition to the increase in the number of airlines offering flights to Keflavík the largest change at the airport is the number of flights offered during the off-season. In fact, it might be incorrect to speak of an off-season, as only 33% of passengers at Keflavík come during the summer. In 2010 more than half came during the summer.
Eight years ago only 3 airlines flew to Iceland year-round, and an additional 4 airlines flew to Iceland during the summer months. This summer the figure is up to 26, 12 of which fly to Iceland year-round. The turning point was the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption and a concerted marketing effort by the Icelandic authorities and the tourism industry.
Read more: Seven years ago today: Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano with the un-pronouncable name
New connections to Asia
The latest route addition at Keflavík airport was a new Finnair link, connecting Iceland and Helsinki year-round. The link provides new direct connections between Iceland and Asia. WOW air has also discussed plans to flying direct to destinations in Asia.
The two Icelandic airlines, Icelandair and WOW air still handle most of the traffic. Icelandair supplies 51% of all seats to Keflavík airport and WOW air supplies 28%, The third largest airline at Keflavík is easyJet, with 4% followed by SAS with 3%. Other airlines supply 14% of the total seats.
No off-season any more
A spokesman for Isavia, which operates the Keflavík airport, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the airport had worked hard to market Iceland as a destination and to lure in new airlines. There are also things which have helped us, putting Iceland on the map, including the Eyjafjallajökull eruption and the 2016 EURO. He added that while the initiative originally came entirely from the airport, now foreign airlines are increasingly showing interest in opening up contacts.
In addition to the increase in the number of airlines offering flights to Keflavík the largest change at the airport is the number of flights offered during the off-season. In fact, it might be incorrect to speak of an off-season, as only 33% of passengers at Keflavík come during the summer. In 2010 more than half came during the summer.
