The Icelandic Aviation Museum (Icelandic: Flugsafn Íslands [ˈflʏɣˌsapn ˈistlan(t)s]) covers the history of aviation in Iceland. It is housed at Akureyri Airport and was formally opened on 24 June 2000.
Location within Iceland | |
Established | 1999 |
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Location | Akureyri Airport, Akureyri |
Type | Aviation museum |
Founder |
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Website | flugsafn.is |
The museum was founded on 1 May 1999 and formally opened on 24 June 2000[1] by Halldór Blöndal, the Speaker of the Althing.[2] It was initially known as the Aviation Museum at Akureyri;[3] another aviation collection existed at Hnjótur in Örlygshöfn.[2] It was renamed in 2005 to reflect its national role.[4][5] Svanbjörn Sigurðsson, a principal figure in the foundation of the museum, was its first director.[3][6][7][8]
Initially in temporary quarters in a hangar rented by Íslandsbanki, the museum moved in 2007 to a purpose-built building with 2,200 square metres (24,000 sq ft) of space, approximately five times what it previously had;[7][9] the building was officially opened by Sigrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, the mayor of Akureyri.[10][11] It celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009.[3]
The aircraft collection has been used for training by the Icelandic Technical School[12]
.The museum has many photographs of Icelandic aviation through the years and also a number of historic aircraft,[13] many of which it maintains in airworthy condition[14] and flies at least once a year on an annual fly day.[3][15] These include:
65°39′05″N 18°04′33″W / 65.6514°N 18.0757°W