PM says Akureyri helicopter base remains under review

Iceland is considering a permanent Coast Guard helicopter base in Akureyri for medical transfers, but Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said no timeline had been set. The issue was reported by mbl.is.

Frostadóttir told parliament on Monday that the proposal was under review and was “very possible”. She said the helicopter’s cost could potentially count towards Iceland’s commitment to NATO to spend 1.5% of gross domestic product on defence.

Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson, an Independence Party MP for the Northeast constituency, asked whether people in northern Iceland could expect a helicopter to be permanently based in Akureyri. He said a base would improve emergency response to accidents and illnesses, strengthen rescue capacity across northern and eastern Iceland and in waters off those regions, and help ensure faster assistance when every minute can matter.

Friðbertsson said Frostadóttir had expressed strong support for basing a helicopter at Akureyri Airport during a public meeting there in May last year. He said the proposal had support across party lines and that preparations to strengthen the Coast Guard’s helicopter fleet should begin early, noting that large rescue helicopters cannot simply be bought off the shelf.

Frostadóttir said she considered it important to distribute emergency response capacity more evenly around Iceland. The country’s sparse population, she said, means investments such as helicopters could be shared across health services, civil protection and other services, including defence-related work. She said the government would announce a timeline once one had been established.