Keflavík airport handles 5.26 million passengers in eight months

Nearly 5.26 million passengers travelled through Keflavík Airport in the first eight months of 2026, roughly the same number as in 2023 but 8 per cent fewer than during the same period last year, mbl.is reported.

Grétar Már Garðarsson, head of airline and marketing affairs at Keflavík Airport, said the year-on-year decline was mainly because the airline Play ceased operations last autumn. Play carried 867,000 passengers in the first eight months of last year after reducing its capacity because of financial difficulties.

Passenger numbers so far this year are 0.7 per cent above Isavia’s forecast. Isavia expects 7.5 million passengers to travel through the airport during the full year.

Based on landing permit applications for the winter period from November to March, airline capacity is expected to rise by 14 per cent year on year, or by nearly 400,000 seats.

“Traffic will therefore increase by a double-digit percentage, but as an airport we are not targeting the 20 to 40 per cent growth seen between 2012 and 2018,” Garðarsson said. He added that the outlook for next year’s April to October period would become clearer in November, when landing permit applications are available.

Eight airlines plan to add capacity

Eight airlines are expected to add a combined total of more than 300,000 seats during the winter.

Icelandair plans to add 65,000 seats between November and March, a 3 per cent increase in its total capacity. Finnair will add 13,000 seats, up 17 per cent from the previous year, while the Dutch airline Transavia will add 28,000 seats, a 52 per cent increase.

SAS plans to add 77,000 seats, an 83 per cent increase, and easyJet will add 71,000 seats, up 22 per cent. Iceland is one of the few markets where easyJet is increasing its capacity this winter, according to Garðarsson.

United Airlines will operate flights from Chicago this winter and add 9,000 seats to its previous capacity. Air China will begin flying to Keflavík on October 26 and offer 39,000 seats through March.

Vueling will begin winter flights from Barcelona, adding 6,000 seats. The airline had planned to offer more flights to Keflavík, but fuel-related issues prevented that plan from going ahead.

Air Greenland, Norwegian and Austrian Airlines will not fly to Keflavík this winter. Garðarsson said the additional capacity from Air China, United Airlines and Vueling would outweigh the capacity lost from those three airlines.