Keflavík Airport

Keflavík is not an airport you visit by chance. Anyone landing here is usually on the way to Iceland – or connecting between Europe and North America. That’s exactly what makes the place on a windswept lava field at the southwestern tip of the island so interesting: twice a day, flights from both continents line up in quick succession, with near silence in between. Add a history that has more to do with the Cold War than with tourism, and a home airline whose fleet is currently changing generations completely.

From wartime airfield to transatlantic junction

The airport is a child of World War II. After Allied troops occupied Iceland, the US military built two airfields on the flat Reykjanes Peninsula. One of them, Meeks Field, went into operation on March 23, 1943 – named after the pilot George Meeks, who had died in Iceland. The fields served as a stopover for aircraft being ferried across the North Atlantic to Europe.

In 1947 the Americans withdrew, but the pause didn’t last long. With the defense agreement of 1951, they returned as part of NATO. Iceland has no armed forces of its own; the Iceland Defense Force took over protection of the island, and from 1961 the US Navy operated the site as Naval Air Station Keflavik. Civilian passengers shared the grounds with the military for decades – the 1949 terminal sat in the middle of the base.

Not until April 1987 did the Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar open as a civilian terminal of its own, named after the seafarer Leif Eriksson, who around the year 1000 was one of the first Europeans to reach North America. Icelanders usually just say Leifsstöð. In 2006 the American presence ended: the Navy withdrew, and the base grounds were converted into a residential and commercial area under the name Ásbrú. The old 1949 terminal was demolished in 2018.

NATO outpost in the North Atlantic

For NATO, Keflavík was a strategic point during the Cold War. Whoever controlled the air and sea space between Greenland, Iceland and Britain kept an eye on the Soviet Northern Fleet’s routes into the Atlantic. The base was equipped accordingly: interceptors like the F-4 Phantom and later the F-15 scrambled when Soviet long-range aircraft approached. Maritime patrol aircraft of the Lockheed P-3 Orion type rotated to Iceland every six months until 2004 to track submarines. Add rescue helicopters, tankers and, at times, AWACS aircraft.

With the end of the Cold War, the presence shrank, and in 2006 it was over. The military hasn’t disappeared entirely, though. Since May 2008, NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing has been running: allies send fighter jets to Keflavík for a few weeks at a time to monitor Icelandic airspace. On average this happens several times a year. Participants have included France, the US, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Poland – with types from the F-16 to the F-35. The Icelandic Coast Guard administers the military part of the airport for NATO. In 2016, the US Navy committed to modernizing a hangar for operations of its P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

Two crossing runways and lots of wind

The infrastructure reveals its origin. Instead of parallel runways as at the big hubs of Central Europe, Keflavík has two runways that cross: 01/19 in a north-south direction and 10/28 in an east-west direction. Both are a good three kilometers long and, at 60 meters, unusually wide – designed for military jets and heavy transports in rough weather.

Iceland lies right in the track of the North Atlantic lows. The wind is often strong and shifts quickly – and because the runways point in two completely different directions, where aircraft take off and land can change entirely within a day. Crosswind landings are part of everyday life here. How pilots fly them and why they look so spectacular is covered in the post on crosswind landings. How runway numbers come about is explained in Runway designations at airports.

Icelandair and the hub principle

Without Icelandair, Keflavík would be a quiet island airport. The airline uses the location halfway between Europe and North America for a connecting model: passengers from cities like Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin change in Keflavík to a flight to North America – and vice versa. Many make a stopover on the island along the way. This business has a tradition: as early as the 1950s and 1960s, the historic Loftleiðir lured passengers with cheap Atlantic flights via Iceland. In 1979 it merged with Flugfélag Íslands to form the airline now called Icelandair.

For connecting to work, the flights are bundled into waves. Simplified: in the early morning the overnight flights from North America land, and shortly afterward the flights to Europe depart. In the afternoon those aircraft return, and it’s off toward the west again. For you, that means that within an hour or two you see a large part of the fleet taxiing, then it gets quiet. How to find such peaks in advance is covered in the post on the departure and arrival board.

The fleet is in the middle of a transition. For a long time the Boeing 757-200 was the face of the airline, complemented by the Boeing 767-300ER. Both are phase-out models and are gradually leaving the fleet. In their place come the Boeing 737 MAX 8, the 737 MAX 9 and the Airbus A321LR, the long-range version of the A321neo. The A321XLR is also on order. If you still want to get an Icelandair 757 in your lens, Keflavík is the place with the best chances. To tell the two Boeing types apart, Telling the 757 and 767 apart helps.

The rise and fall of the low-cost carriers

Hardly any airport of this size has seen so many airline collapses. As early as 2003 to 2012, Iceland Express tried to compete with Icelandair. From 2012, WOW air, with its conspicuous purple aircraft, bet on the same connecting principle – only cheaper. Growth was rapid, and in 2018 Keflavík reached its record to date of around 9.8 million passengers. On March 28, 2019, WOW air ceased operations, and the numbers fell significantly.

From June 2021, PLAY tried again with a low-cost model via Keflavík. On September 29, 2025, that story was over too: PLAY ceased operations. For the full year 2025, the airport reported around 8.16 million passengers, about two percent fewer than in 2024. So if you have old photos of purple or red Icelanders in your archive, you now own genuine historical documents.

Who else lands in Keflavík

Besides Icelandair, numerous European and North American airlines fly to Keflavík, mainly in the summer season. According to the airport, there were 27 airlines on scheduled service in total in 2025. They include low-cost carriers from Europe and network airlines from North America. Which routes are currently served fluctuates strongly between the summer and winter schedules – a look at the airport’s destination list shows you the current status.

On the cargo side, Icelandair Cargo with freighters converted from the Boeing 767-300ER, Bluebird Nordic and DHL Aviation, among others, are active; other cargo airlines come on top. Part of the cargo – including fresh fish – flies in the bellies of passenger aircraft to Europe and North America. The Icelandic charter and leasing airline Air Atlanta Icelandic, on the other hand, is something you see rather rarely, since its aircraft are mostly deployed far away from Iceland.

And then there are the guests who aren’t on the schedule. Keflavík lies right on the routes across the North Atlantic and has long, wide runways. If a long-haul aircraft between Europe and North America has to land unscheduled, the airport is an obvious option. Why twinjets need such alternate airports is explained in the post on ETOPS.

Spotting between lava and Atlantic

There is no developed spotter setup with a visitors’ hill like in Munich at Keflavík. The landscape around the airport is flat, treeless and wide – lava fields, moss and roads from which you can see approaches at various points. Where you’re best placed depends almost entirely on the active runway. Because the runways cross, aircraft come from four different directions depending on the wind.

For planning, that means: check runway and wave first, then choose the location. A rental car is practically a must if you want to switch sides. Always stay on public paths and parking areas, keep your distance from fences and security areas and don’t park on access roads. The post Is plane spotting allowed? summarizes the general rules.

Light, seasons and weather

Keflavík lies at almost 64 degrees north – you feel that in every plan you make. In midsummer it hardly gets properly dark at night, and you can photograph late into the evening. The sun stays low for a long time and travels far around the horizon, which brings side light from unfamiliar directions. In December, by contrast, only a few hours of daylight remain, and the sun barely rises above the horizon. With the sun position planner you find out which side of the active runway is in the light when.

The weather changes quickly: rain, gusts and sunshine can alternate within an hour. That can be frustrating, but it also delivers dramatic pictures with clouds, spray and glistening asphalt. Tips for such days are in Plane spotting in bad weather. In winter, snow, ice and deicing are added – how to make use of the cold season is explained in Plane spotting in winter.

Expansion of Leifsstöð

The terminal has grown with traffic. Between 2023 and 2025, the east wing went into operation step by step, enlarging the terminal area by around 30 percent – with four additional passenger boarding bridges, two bus gates for remote stands, a new baggage claim and a food hall. In 2023, a new taxiway about 1.2 kilometers long was added. Isavia’s master plan is designed for up to 15 million passengers a year and keeps the option of a third runway open. Whether and when it comes is open.

Keflavík compared

Compared with the Nordic capital airports, Keflavík is small. Helsinki Airport works as a hub between Europe and Asia on a similar connecting principle, just on a larger scale. At Oslo Airport and Copenhagen Airport you see considerably more traffic throughout the day. As an Atlantic springboard, Keflavík has things in common with Dublin Airport, where many transatlantic flights depart – and historically with Shannon Airport, which used to serve as a fuel stop over the Atlantic.

The mix remains unique: a home airline crossing the Atlantic on Boeing narrowbodies, a military past you can still read in the hangars and runway width, and weather that makes every spotting day a surprise. If you want to refresh the basics on registrations before collecting the TF registrations, you’ll find them in Understanding aircraft registrations.

Conclusion

Keflavík Airport is small, but it tells a lot: of World War II, of the Cold War in the North Atlantic, of the dream of cheap Atlantic flights and of two budget airlines that didn’t survive it. Today Icelandair sets the rhythm, and its fleet is currently changing from the classic Boeing 757s and 767s to 737 MAX and A321LR.

For spotters, the rule is: without planning, you quickly end up standing in the wind at the wrong runway. With a look at connecting waves, active runway and light, though, a short visit becomes productive – and you get the backdrop of lava, sea and sky for free.