Plans are for Keflavík Airport to be able to receive up to 25 million passengers by the year 2040, RÚV reports. This, according to a development plan introduced today by Isavia. You can view the plan in detail on Isavia’s website.
Enlarging the airport is not sufficient by itself to be able to receive all those travelers. Passenger traffic must also be evenly spread over 24 hours.
Based on current flight schedules, 14 million passengers could be received in 2014, but if arrivals and departures were evenly spread day and night, the number could be as high as 25 million.
Construction will begin by the end of 2016, but the work will be done in phases and depends on how much and how quickly the number of passengers increases. Public funds are not expected to be needed for the project.
Enlargement of the airport is in accordance with the government’s Road Sign for the Travel Industry, a policy recently introduced, which assumes increased foreign exchange earnings from tourism.
Isavia CEO Björn Óli Hauksson says that in order for the government’s plans for increased number of tourists to realize, facilities must be in place to receive them. Keflavík Airport must by no means become a bottleneck in that build-up.
