The first phase of a new transport center in the Vatnsmýrin district in Reykjavík, where the domestic airport is located, will not be completed next year as announced by the Ministry of Transport and Reykjavík City Council last spring.
In an agreement signed by Minister of Transport Kristján L. Möller and the then Mayor of Reykjavík Ólafur F. Magnússon in the end of March, the transport center was scheduled to begin operating before the end of 2009 and to be completed in 2010, Fréttabladid reports.
According to current plans, the transport center will not be ready until 2016 and the first phase will not begin until 2010, apparently because of reorganization of the planning and construction division of Reykjavík City and summer vacations of councilmembers.
Last week, Möller announced that a new and larger airport is being constructed in Akureyri in northeast Iceland, which is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2010.
Árni Gunnarsson, managing director of the domestic airline Air Iceland, said enlarging the Akureyri airport is a natural development after the airstrip was lengthened, but he is surprised that matters concerning the domestic airport in Reykjavík were not prioritized.
Gunnarsson said that the airport building in Reykjavík, which was constructed during World War II, has needed replacement for a long time, but now Air Iceland cannot offer passengers better facilities until the transport center is built.
Click here to read more about the planned transport center in Reykjavík.
