A new “Master Plan” unveiled by Isavia, which operates the Keflavík Airport, envisions the airport will be expanded to handle as many as 25 million passengers annually, or six times more than last year, when 3.87 million passengers travelled through the airport. The plan envisions that work on the expansion will begin in 2017, and that when it is complete the airport would create over 60,000 jobs with as many as 10,000 people working at the airport itself.
From 700,000 passengers to 25 million in little more than 50 years?
When the current terminal was opened in 1987 it handled 700,000 passengers annually. This year it is expected to handle 4.5 million passengers. Despite significant additions and expansion in recent years the terminal is struggling to handle the traffic, and long lines formed on numerous occasions this summer at check-in and security points as the facilities at the terminal couldn’t handle the number of passengers during peak hours.
The government and airport authorities have been criticized in recent months for inadequate investment in capacity at the Airport, which has been struggling to handle the growing traffic in the past few years. Skúli Mogensen, the CEO of Icelandic airline WOW Air has been a vocal critic, arguing the inadequate facilities at the airport pose the greatest threat to continued growth of the tourism industry.
Read more: Government has been inexcusably slow to respond to booming tourism, argues CEO of Icelandic airline
Not paid for by taxpayers, but international travellers
The new “Master Plan”, unveiled yesterday, envisions that 70-90 billion ISK (570-730 million USD/490-640 million EUR) be spent on expanding the airport in the next five to six years. Björn Óli Hauksson, the CEO of Isavia, which operates the airport, is quoted by the local news site visir.is as saying the cost of the expansion would not fall on the state, which is the sole owner of Isavia, but would be financed from the revenue generated by the airport itself.
The design phase should be completed by early 2017 and the first phase complete by 2020-2021. The expansion would then proceed in several phases, taking into account the growth in the number of passengers at each stage. Björn Óli argues that when complete the Airport would be similar in size to the main airports of the other Nordic countries.
A new “Master Plan” unveiled by Isavia, which operates the Keflavík Airport, envisions the airport will be expanded to handle as many as 25 million passengers annually, or six times more than last year, when 3.87 million passengers travelled through the airport. The plan envisions that work on the expansion will begin in 2017, and that when it is complete the airport would create over 60,000 jobs with as many as 10,000 people working at the airport itself.
From 700,000 passengers to 25 million in little more than 50 years?
When the current terminal was opened in 1987 it handled 700,000 passengers annually. This year it is expected to handle 4.5 million passengers. Despite significant additions and expansion in recent years the terminal is struggling to handle the traffic, and long lines formed on numerous occasions this summer at check-in and security points as the facilities at the terminal couldn’t handle the number of passengers during peak hours.
The government and airport authorities have been criticized in recent months for inadequate investment in capacity at the Airport, which has been struggling to handle the growing traffic in the past few years. Skúli Mogensen, the CEO of Icelandic airline WOW Air has been a vocal critic, arguing the inadequate facilities at the airport pose the greatest threat to continued growth of the tourism industry.
Read more: Government has been inexcusably slow to respond to booming tourism, argues CEO of Icelandic airline
Not paid for by taxpayers, but international travellers
The new “Master Plan”, unveiled yesterday, envisions that 70-90 billion ISK (570-730 million USD/490-640 million EUR) be spent on expanding the airport in the next five to six years. Björn Óli Hauksson, the CEO of Isavia, which operates the airport, is quoted by the local news site visir.is as saying the cost of the expansion would not fall on the state, which is the sole owner of Isavia, but would be financed from the revenue generated by the airport itself.
The design phase should be completed by early 2017 and the first phase complete by 2020-2021. The expansion would then proceed in several phases, taking into account the growth in the number of passengers at each stage. Björn Óli argues that when complete the Airport would be similar in size to the main airports of the other Nordic countries.
