Icelandair seeks 700 million króna for border police

Icelandair is urging Iceland’s parliament budget committee to provide nearly 700 million króna to strengthen border controls at Keflavík Airport. The airline warned that a lack of funding could harm air travel, tourism and the national economy in a submission on the 2027 budget, reported by mbl.is.

The airline is concerned that the budget bill does not include increased funding for police in the Suðurnes region. It says the Schengen Entry/Exit System has significantly increased the workload at border control, with travellers from outside the Schengen area now required to provide fingerprints and facial images.

The effects were clear this summer, Icelandair said, when long queues formed at the border and many passengers missed connecting flights. The airline paid for rebookings and hotel stays, and delayed flights to wait for passengers, causing further delays across its schedule.

Icelandair carried 5.1 million passengers last year, with connecting passengers travelling between Europe and North America making up 40 to 50 per cent of the total in most months. The airline says these passengers allow it to operate more routes than the Icelandic market alone could support.

The airline also noted that tourist spending in Iceland was nearly 914 billion króna in 2025. The funding request made by the Suðurnes police chief is less than 0.1 per cent of that amount, while a 1 per cent drop in tourist spending would amount to about 9 billion króna, it said.

Icelandair called for the funding decision to be made as the budget is approved this autumn, noting that recruiting and training border officers takes several months. It said current staffing would not be enough next summer and could lead to fewer destinations, reduced flight frequency and lower tax revenues.