Icelanders have never traveled as much abroad as they did this summer, turisti.is reports. In June, July and August, nearly 167,000 Icelandic passengers left Keflavík International Airport, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board.
That’s about 15,000 more travelers than during the same months in 2007, which, until now, was a record travel year. By comparison, about 132,000 Icelanders left the country in the summer of 2015.
What force could possible kick the nation off our island in such large numbers, you may ask. By all accounts, the force of the Icelandic men’s national football team sufficed to send us flying up in the air and land in France by the thousands. Iceland’s participation in EURO 2016 is no doubt the reason for this large surge in travels, but in June alone, 67,000 Icelanders traveled abroad through the airport. Those who left the country more than once were counted each time they left.
Icelanders who traveled abroad by ferry or from other airports than Keflavík International Airport are not included in those numbers.
