Minister of Finance Katrín Júlíusdóttir and the mayor’s proxy Dagur B. Eggertsson signed an agreement at Reykjavík Domestic Airport last week on the City of Reykjavík’s acquisition of the Icelandic State’s land in Skerjafjörður, 112,000 square meters. Up to 800 new apartments are planned in Vatnsmýri, the area around the airport.

Dagur B. Eggertsson and Katrín Júlíusdóttir sign the agreement. Photo courtesy of Reykjavik City Council.

The agreement, which was approved unanimously in Reykjavík City Council on Thursday morning, states that the joint goal of the city and state is to develop the areas that will become available at the closing of the north/south and east/west runway (aka the small runway) of Reykjavík Domestic Airport, as stated in a press release from Reykjavík City.

The number of apartments and planning of the district will begin shortly, even though construction cannot begin until the Ministry of the Interior has formally announced the closing of the small runway. It is hoped that an agreement with the ministry can soon be reached.

The closing of the small runway has been anticipated since 1999, when the city and ministry stated in a joint declaration of intent that a transport center should be built where this third runway of the airport now stands.

The land Reykjavík City has acquired from the state is green in the picture.

Also in an appraisal by the city and ministry in 2007 where different options regarding the airport are compared, the closing of the runway is always assumed.

The first payment from the city to the state for the acquisition for the land will be ISK 440 million (USD 3.5 million, EUR 2.7 million) but other payments will depend on the sale of construction right in the area. Its value is estimated as ISK 1-3 billion.

Discussions of relocating Reykjavík Domestic Airport are ongoing. An evaluation of the weather conditions on Hólmsheiði outside the capital recently concluded that more flights might have to be canceled were the airport to be moved there.

ESA