Akureyri Airport

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Akureyri Airport Akureyrarflugvöllur
Akureyri Airport in July 2005
IATA: AEY – ICAO: BIAR
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Flugstoðir
Serves		Akureyri
Location		Akureyri
Elevation AMSL		2 m / 6 ft
Coordinates		65°39′35.98″N 18°04′21.73″W / 65.6599944°N 18.0727028°W / 65.6599944; -18.0727028
Website		flugstodir.is
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
01/19	2,400	7,874	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft movements			18,164
Passengers			221,759
Cargo			457 tons
Sources: AIP Iceland[1] Statistics: Flugstoðir Flugtölur 2008 [2]

Akureyri Airport (Icelandic: Akureyrarflugvöllur) (IATA: AEY, ICAO: BIAR) is a single-runway international airport in Akureyri, Iceland located about 3 km south of the town center. Air Iceland and Norlandair link the airport with several domestic locations. The only scheduled international flight is operated by Iceland Express to Copenhagen during the summer months.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Runway renovations 2 Airlines and destinations 3 References 4 See also

[edit] History

Scheduled air travel to Akureyri started in 1928 when Flugfélag Íslands ("Airline of Iceland") began flying on seaplanes to Reykjavík, landing on the fjord of Eyjafjörður near downtown Akureyri. The airline was shortlived, as it ceased operations after only three years. Another airline, Flugfélag Akureyrar ("Airline of Akureyri"), was founded in 1937 and in 1940 it changed its name to Flugfélag Íslands, though it was in no way affiliated with its predecessor. In 1944, Loftleiðir, started flying from Reykjavík on Grumman Goose seaplanes, which added competition to the popular route.^[3]
It wasn't until the early 1950's that construction of the airport itself started on top of a landfill on the delta of Eyjafjörður river, a few kilometers from the town's center.^[4] A new terminal was constructed in 1961, which was renovated in 2000 to better equip the airport for International flights.^[5] In 1952, Loftleiðir decided to cease domestic flights and to concentrate on international flights to Europe and North America. This left Flugfélag Íslands alone on the route, operating Douglas DC-3 aircraft up until 1973. In 1965, the airline introduced the Fokker F27 to its domestic fleet which it replaced with the Fokker 50 in 1992, which is still used in domestic flights to this day.^[3]
In 1973, Loftleiðir and Flugfélag Íslands merged into Icelandair. One year later, a new airline was founded in Akureyri, Flugfélag Norðurlands, and operated numerous domestic flights and charter flights to Greenland.^[3]
In 1997 The domestic division of Icelandair merged with Flugfélag Norðurlands to form Flugfélag Íslands (the third airline with that name) or Air Iceland as it is called in English.^[3]
In 2008, Norlandair was founded, which serves destinations in north-eastern Iceland in cooperation with Air Iceland and various charter flights to Greenland.^[6]

[edit] Runway renovations

In the summer of 2009, Flugstoðir completed an almost two year runway renovation program. It included stretching the runway by 500 meters to the south, improving runway lighting and enhancing the approach system. In the near future, Flugstoðir plans to expand the passenger terminal and ramp area and equip the airport with an ILS approach system. This is to better suit the needs of larger aircraft and an increasing number of passengers, and also to establish a safe alternate airport for flights to Keflavík Airport, Iceland's largest airport.^[7]

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air Iceland	Reykjavík
Air Iceland operated by Norlandair	Grímsey, Vopnafjörður, Þórshöfn
Iceland Express	Copenhagen [seasonal], London-Gatwick [seasonal]
Mýflug	Ambulance flights, charter flights.
Norlandair	Charter flights, mainly to Greenland

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries