Reykjavík Airport
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| Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Domestic Airport Reykjavíkurflugvöllur |
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| A view of Reykjavík Airport from the Perlan hill. The control tower atop a building is visible on the left and the larger Loftleiðir Hotel on the right. The airfield extends behind them. | |||
IATA: RKV – ICAO: BIRK
 RKV
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Isavia | ||
| Serves | Reykjavík | ||
| Location | Reykjavík | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 45 ft / 14 m | ||
| Coordinates | 64°07′48″N 021°56′26″W / 64.13°N 21.94056°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 01/19 | 1,567 | 5,141 | Asphalt |
| 06/24 | 960 | 3,150 | Asphalt |
| 13/31 | 1,230 | 4,035 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2008) | |||
| Passengers | 463,889 | ||
| Aircraft Movements | 65,387 | ||
| Sources: AIP Iceland[1]
Statistics: Flugstoðir Flugtölur 2008 [2] |
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Reykjavík Airport (Icelandic: Reykjavíkurflugvöllur, (IATA: RKV, ICAO: BIRK) is the chiefly domestic airport serving Reykjavík, Iceland. The airport lies two kilometres from Reykjavík's city centre. Possessing rather short runways, it normally only serves flights within Iceland and to Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as well small international charters, ferry flights over the Atlantic, and private flights. When weather conditions are not good enough in Keflavík Airport for landings, aircraft like the Boeing 757-200 and smaller divert to Reykjavik Airport.
However, most international flights arrive at and depart from Keflavík International Airport, 50 km out of town, which can handle practically all aircraft. Reykjavík Airport is the main hub of Air Iceland and Eagle Air. Of the three runways, currently only two are active all year round, the smallest runway, 06/24, is usually only used in the winter. Takeoffs from 24 are allowed, landings on 24 and 06 are allowed, but takeoffs from 06 are forbidden because of safety and noise. Reykjavík Airport is owned and operated by the state enterprise Isavia.
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[edit] History
The first flight from the airport area was September 3, 1919, with the takeoff of an Avro 504, the first aeroplane in Iceland. Until 1937 there were experiments with airline operations in Vatnsmýri but with the foundation of Iceland's oldest airline, Flugfélag Akureyrar, currently operating as Icelandair in Akureyri in 1938, operations began in the area and in March 1940 scheduled flights started taking off when Flugfélag Akureyrar moved its hub from Akureyri to Reykjavík (and changing its name to Flugfélag Íslands)
The current airport was built by the British military during World War II on the south coast of Reykjavík peninsula, then a small town. The military began construction in October 1940 at which time the airport still only had a grass surface. The Black Watch regiment constructed the first runway constructing the piste over sunken oil barrels. On July 6, 1946, the British handed the airport operation over to the Icelandic government and since then it has been operated by the Icelandic Civil Aviation Authority (now named Flugstoðir).
The city has grown all around it in the following decades and it is now essentially located in the western part of the city. This location is considered inconvenient by some, both for noise and safety reasons and because it takes up a lot of valuable space in a central location. This central location is also the reason why many wish to keep the airport where it is as it is a vital link between the national capital and the sparsely populated rest of the country. There is an ongoing debate about the future of the airport with the three options being: keeping the airport as it is, building a new one in the Reykjavík area, or moving the domestic flights to Keflavík International Airport while closing the airport in Reykjavík. The first choice would make it impossible to develop the highly valued land. The second choice would be most expensive, and the third one would hurt the domestic service, reducing access to vital institutions in the capital such as hospitals. The third option would however give better connections between other parts of the country and the rest of the world.
Renovation of the airport started in 2000 and lasted 2 years. This was followed by a referendum in 2001, with 49.3% votes for moving the airport out of the city centre, and 48.1% votes in favour of having it remain in place until 2016, when the current urban plan expires.
After renovation, the width of runways 01/19 and 13/31 is 45 m, and the width of 06/24 is 30m, with visual approach for runways 01 and 31, while runway 19 has ILS CAT I/NBD-DME approach and runway 13 has LLZ-DME/NDB-DME approach. The lights for the runways were also updated with LIH Wedge for all runways.
[edit] Terminals and destinations
There are two terminals at Reykjavík Airport. The main terminal handles both international and domestic traffic for Air Iceland; a smaller terminal serves domestic and international business flights for Eagle Air.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Iceland | Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Ilulissat, Ísafjörður, Kulusuk, Nerlerit Inaat, Nuuk Summer: Narsarsuaq |
| Atlantic Airways | Sørvágur (Faroe Islands) |
| Eagle Air | Bíldudalur, Gjögur, Höfn, Sauðárkrókur, Vestmannaeyjar |
| Mýflug | Ambulance and charter flights |
Atlantic Airways and Air Iceland have a codeshare agreement for flights to Vágar, Faroe Islands.
When changing between domestic and international flights a 50 km bus transfer is usually needed between Reykjavík Airport and Keflavík International Airport, and at least three hours' time between flights is recommended.
[edit] Other facilities
Icelandair Group and Icelandair have a head office on the property of the airport.[3] Air Iceland and Isavia also have their head offices on the airport property.[4][5] When Loftleiðir was in operation, its head office was on the airport property.[6]
[edit] Accidents and incidents
On 27 December 1980, Douglas C-47B N54605 of Visionair International was damaged beyond repair in a storm at Reykjavik Airport.[7]
[edit] Gallery
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Airport exterior
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Airport interior
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Check-in area
[edit] References
- ^ BIRK AIP from the Icelandic CAA
- ^ Flugtölur (Flight numbers) 2008 from Flugstoðir/Isavia(Icelandic)
- ^ "Location." Icelandair Group. Retrieved on 28 December 2009.
- ^ Home. Air Iceland. Retrieved on 13 February 2011. "© Air Iceland - Reykjavik airport - 101 Reykjavik"
- ^ "Home." Isavia. Retrieved on 9 September 2010. "Isavia · Reykjavik Airport"
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 13 April 1967. 578. "Head Office: Reykjavík Airport, Iceland."
- ^ "N54605 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19801227-0. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
[edit] External links
- Reykjavík Airport at the Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration (English)
- Reykjavík Airport at the Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration (Icelandic)
- Airport information for BIRK at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- Current aviation weather for Reykjavík
