A tourist boom has caused traffic at Iceland’s Keflavik airport to grow more than five-fold over the past nine years, with a predicted 10 million passengers this year. Now Iceland’s main entry point to the world is preparing to accommodate twice as many.
The airport expects to invest about $1 billion over the next 7 to 8 years to make room for new airlines and routes as it touts itself as a hub between Europe and the U.S. Domestic carriers Icelandair and Wow Air have opened routes to mid-size cities in North America, while Delta, United, American Airlines and Air Canada have or will soon start flying out of Keflavik, which was built by the U.S. military during World War II.
The airport will pick up the pace of investments after spending about 39 billion kronur ($372 million) since 2011, and will need the help of foreign investors as it takes its biggest steps, according to Bjorn Oli Hauksson, managing director of ISAVIA, the state-owned company that operates all airports in Iceland. This could involve issuing bonds, he said.
