In some cases, Akureyri Airport is listed in the riskiest category of airports by foreign airlines, RÚV reports. This, according to Guðni Sigurðsson, a public relations person at Isavia―the company which operates Keflavík Airport.
In general, airports are classified by flight operators as A, B or C, depending on the level of difficulty flying into them or taking off. Category A needs no special preparation, and category B requires pilots to familiarize themselves briefly with conditions prior to departure. According to RÚV, if an airport is in category C, pilots are prohibited from landing there unless they have either undergone special training in a simulator or been to the airport to check out conditions.
According to AirfieldCharts.com, category C “ is considered to pose certain problems for the approach and / or landing and / or take-off.” There are close to 20 airports in Europe listed that way.
Guðni reports that some airlines unfamiliar with the airport automatically list it as category C, but once they’ve been to the airport, they generally move it up to category B.
