Great possibilities for the airport

Minister of Culture and Business Affairs Lilja Alfreðsdóttir visited Keflavík International Airport this week and studied the airport’s operations.

The announcement on the website of the Government indicates that she met with Isavia’s officials and studied expansion projects at the airport, which include a new baggage sorting system, a new arrivals hall with a passenger baggage reception area, a new restaurant area, as well as a larger arrival store in the Duty-Free area, along with new jetways and gates.

Strong infrastructure most important

“It is my view for our economy that we of course enjoy this geographical location, so we should continue to investigate how we increase prosperity in Iceland, that is, the airport’s potential,” she tells mbl.is.

Asked about the increase in tourists coming to Iceland, she says that a strong domestic infrastructure is needed that can accommodate this increased number.

“It is forecast that the arrivals here next year will be around 2.3 to 2.5 million tourists. But it depends on whether they can book accommodation, but in some places in Iceland it is very difficult.

I can see that we will continue to grow as a tourist destination, but we need to do it in a sustainable way and we have to make sure that the infrastructure can accommodate this number of people.”

Tourism is a vigorous industry

“Having said that, it’s true that half of the new jobs created in the Icelandic economy in the last ten years are in the tourism industry. We have built up the reserves on this extra foreign exchange revenue that has come through the tourism industry.
The service levels all over the country have been greatly increased because of this vigorous industry that has come in, and it is of course the government’s job to ensure the competitiveness capacity of tourism for the future.”

The airport plays a major role in that respect. “There are big opportunities in our geographical location. One is that the whole world is running fast trying to find new sources of energy, to make sure that we are not dependent on fossil fuels.

Icelandair is confident that the company’s domestic fleet will be fully powered by electricity by 2030. Next, it will be the international airline, which will mean that Iceland will become a very preferred location for international air traffic.

So I believe that the airport, Isavia and this infrastructure related to it are key elements in ensuring competitiveness and improving prosperity in Iceland. We have incredible opportunities here.

Sustainability is key

Alfreðsdóttir says that the above-mentioned issue cannot be perceived of in terms of time, but in the scope of decades.

“The key is sustainability. It can’t be in a manner that exhausts the infrastructure. It has to grow organically and not be carried out with a giant leap. But it is very exciting and the tourism industry is making a strong connection.

We can see, for example, with regard to the utilisation of the airport, that freight transport is changing. Because the leading airports in freight transport, including Amsterdam, Copenhagen and several others in Germany, do not have any available geographical areas. So they are reducing freight traffic while part of our airport is not being used because of the connecting flights.”

Iceland has the potential to be a very good country for the future, partly because of its geographical location. She also mentions the energy resources that Iceland has, and the high level of education of the nation, which is important for our future.
Finally, she mentions that the state’s tourism policy until 2030 will soon be introduced, which says that the development of infrastructure is a huge factor. “It will all be announced in the coming weeks.”