Approximately 137,000 foreign passengers departed from Iceland via Keflavík Airport in February. This is nearly as many foreign passengers who left the country in 2018 when departures were at their peak.
British and American travellers most numerous
According to a press release from the Icelandic Tourist Board, approximately 137,000 foreign passengers departed from Keflavík Airport in February. This number is roughly equivalent to the departures in February 2020 and represents 86% of the peak departures recorded in February 2018. Of the departures, British and American travellers accounted for more than two out of every five (39,000 Icelanders departed from Keflavík in February).
In February, British travellers left Keflavík Airport in the greatest number, or around 39,000 (28.7% of the total). The British were followed by American travellers at nearly 21,000 (15.1% of the total). These two nationalities have consistently been the most frequent departures in February for the past two decades, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board.
Departing German nationals composed the third most numerous departures in February (6.8% of the total), and French travellers were the fourth most numerous (6.7%). These nationalities were followed by the Poles (4.0%), the Irish (3.7%), the Italians (3.4%), the Chinese (2.9%), the Danes (2.7%), and the Spanish (2.2%).
Since the beginning of the year, about 258,000 foreign passengers have left Iceland, while at the same time last year, their departures were about 143,000. In total, departures in January and February this year were about 84% of the departures recorded in the same months in 2018 and 90% of those recorded in 2019.
