2024-06-26
Keflavík International Airport │ Iceland Photo Gallery
Documenting Iceland
by: Rafn Sig,-
Keflavíkurflugvöllur (IATA: KEF, ICAO: BIKF) “Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar”, oftast kölluð “Leifsstöð”, er flugstöð Keflavíkurflugvallar sem er stærsti flugvöllur Íslands og sá sem mestallt millilandaflug fer um stendur á Miðnesheiði á Reykjanesskaga.
Flugstöðin er rekin af sérstöku opinberu hlutafélagi, Isavia ohf.
Upphaflega var flugvöllurinn lagður af Bandaríkjaher í seinni heimsstyrjöldinni og opnaður 23. mars 1943. Bandaríkjamenn nefndu hann Meeks Field í höfuðið á ungum flugmanni, George Meeks að nafni, sem fórst á Reykjavíkurfugvelli og var fyrsti Bandaríkjamaðurinn sem lést á Íslandi í styrjöldinni. Að styrjöldinni lokinni var flugvöllurinn og bækistöðin sem við hann stóð afhentur Íslendingum til eignar og var hann þá nefndur Keflavíkurflugvöllur eftir stærstu nágrannabyggð hans í Keflavík. Flugvellirnir við Keflavík voru reyndar tveir, Meeks og Pattersonflugvöllur ofan Njarðvíkurfitja, sem þjónaði orrustuflugsveit Bandaríkjahers til stríðsloka. Pattersonflugvöllur hefur stundum verið nefndur Njarðvíkurflugvöllur í daglegu tali en hann var ekki notaður eftir stríðslok. Keflavíkurflugvöllur var rekinn af bandarísku verktakafyrirtæki til ársins 1951 er Bandaríkjaher kom aftur til landsins samkvæmt varnarsamningi Íslands og Bandaríkjanna sem gerður var að tilstuðlan Norður-Atlantshafsbandalagsins NATO.
Bandaríkjaher (varnarliðið á Íslandi) reisti bækistöð sína við Keflavíkurflugvöll sem í daglegu tali er nefnd Keflavíkurstöðin. Þar var afgirtur bær sem hýsti allt að 5700 hermenn, starfsfólk og fjölskyldur þeirra allt til ársins 2006 þegar herstöðin var lögð niður. Í dag er herstöðin hverfi í Reykjanesbæ og gengur undir nafninu Ásbrú.
Fyrstu áratugina stóð flugstöðin fyrir flugvöllinn inni á varnarsvæði herstöðvarinnar en árið 1987 opnaði ný flugstöð, Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar, norðan við flugvöllinn og þjónar hún allri farþegaumferð um völlinn.
Á flugvellinum hefur verið mönnuð veðurathugunarstöð Veðurstofunnar síðan 1952.
Keflavík Airport (Icelandic: Keflavíkurflugvöllur) (IATA: KEF, ICAO: BIKF), also known as Reykjavík–Keflavík Airport, is the largest airport in Iceland and the country’s main hub for international transportation. The airport is 1.7 nautical miles (3.1 kilometres) west of Keflavík[2] and 50 km (30 mi) southwest of Reykjavík. The airport has three runways, two of which are in use, and the airport area is about 25 km2 (10 sq mi).[citation needed] Most international journeys to or from Iceland pass through this airport.
The terminal is named after Leif Erikson who was the first European to arrive in North America(Flugstöð Leifs Eiríkssonar [is], “Leif Erikson Air Terminal”). It was opened in April 1987 and separated the airport’s civil traffic from the military base. It was later extended with the opening of the South Building in 2001 (not a separate terminal) to comply with the requirements of the Schengen Agreement. The North Building was later enlarged and finished in 2007. The terminal has duty-free stores in the departure and arrival lounges. In 2016, the current terminal was expanded. The expansion added 7 gates. There are also plans to add a third runway
Although the population of Iceland is only about 350,000, there are scheduled flights to and from numerous locations across North America and Europe.
Originally, the airport was built by the United States military during World War II, as a replacement for a small British landing strip at Garður to the north. It consisted of two separate two-runway airfields, built simultaneously just 4 km apart. Patterson Field in the south-east opened in 1942 despite being partly incomplete. It was named after a young pilot who died in Iceland. Meeks Field to the north-west opened on 23 March 1943. It was named after another young pilot, George Meeks, who died on the Reykjavík airfield. Patterson Field was closed after the war, but Meeks Field and the adjoining structures were returned to Iceland’s control and were renamed Naval Air Station Keflavik, for the nearby town of Keflavík. In 1951, the U.S. military returned to the airport under a defence agreement between Iceland and the U.S. signed on 5 May 1951 . . . . All info at: https://www.patreon.com/RafnSig
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