Significant increase in international passengers
- 8.76 million passengers passed through Keflavik Airport
- Increase in transfer passengers and passengers outside peak periods
- 9% increase in passengers at Akureyri Airport
Isavia has issued figures for the number of passenger movements at Iceland’s main airports in 2017. Passenger movements consist of arriving passengers, departing passengers and transfer passengers and therefore reflect the load on airport infrastructures and the development from one year to the next.
Continuing rapid growth at Keflavik Airport
8.76 million passengers passed through Keflavik Airport, which is a record number. The total increase from 2016 and 2017 was two million passengers, or 28%. For the past few years, passengers could be split approximately evenly between arriving passengers, departing passengers and transfer passengers. In 2017, the number of transfer passengers increased proportionally more than those who enter the country. Transfer passengers were just over three million, departing passengers 2.82 million and arriving passengers were 2.89 million.
More transfer passengers and less seasonal fluctuation
The figures are consistent with Isavia’s passenger forecast, the 2017 forecast predicting 8.75 million passengers. The figures also show that seasonal fluctuations continue to decrease and that the proportionally highest increase is outside the summer season. This increase is the result of a focused effort by the travel industry to increase winter tourism and Isavia’s incentive system, which provides a discount off landing charges for airlines that fly year-round. It is expected that in the future, Keflavik Airport will become increasingly important for connecting flights between continents. According to Isavia’s 2018 passenger forecast, passengers will continue to increase in number, with 10.4 million passengers expected to pass through the airport. According to the forecast, 40% of these will be transfer passengers.
Less movement in domestic flights
The increase in passengers flying to and from Keflavik Airport has not been reflected in full in domestic flights, with passengers passing through airports other than Keflavik Airport increasing by 2% in 2017. The largest increase was at Akureyri Airport, where just under 206,000 passed through, which is a 9% increase from the previous year. There was also an increase at Egilsstaðir Airport, where 99,000 passengers passed through, 2.4% more than in 2016. Combined figures for airports other than the largest ones show an overall decrease of 2.7% from 2016 to 2017.