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Vestmannaeyjar Airport

Summary

Vestmannaeyjar Airport (Icelandic: Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur [ˈvɛstˌmanːaˌeiːjaˌflʏɣˌvœtlʏr̥]) (IATA: VEY, ICAO: BIVM) is a two-runway airport on the island of Heimaey, in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. It is also known as Westman Islands Airport.

Vestmannaeyjar Airport

Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorISAVIA
ServesVestmannaeyjar, Iceland
LocationHeimaey
Elevation AMSL326 ft / 99 m
Coordinates63°25′30″N 020°16′45″W / 63.42500°N 20.27917°W / 63.42500; -20.27917
Map
VEY is located in Iceland
VEY
VEY
Location of Airport in Iceland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 1,160 3,806 Asphalt
12/30 1,199 3,934 Asphalt
Statistics (2016[1])
Passengers19,107
Source: AIP Iceland[2]

The airport services seasonal, charter and medical flights as well as general aviation. On 1 April 2024, year-round scheduled flights by Eagle Air to the airport ceased.[3]

Operations edit

As of 2024, there are no year-round regular scheduled services to the airport. The airport services general aviation, medical and charter flights.

Since 2020, there has been a lack of commercial viability for flights. Intermittent government subsidies for scheduled service continued with Eagle Air until 2024.[4] As of March 2024, the Icelandic government comitted to providing winter seasonal service to the airport.[5]

Icelandair has regularly offered charter flights during the Þjóðhátið festival held on the island during a weekend in August.[6]

The main alternative to flying is taking the ferry to Landeyjahöfn and driving to Reykjavik, which takes around 3 hours in total.

History edit

The airport was opened on 13 November 1946 with a 60 x 800 m single runway (13/31). It is the first airport that the Icelandic government constructed without foreign or military assistance.[7] In 1953 the first control tower was constructed. It was later lengthened to 900 m by 1973. In 1971, the second runway, 04/22, began construction. There was a lack of fill material on the island which made construction slow. [8]

During Eldfell's volcanic eruption in 1973, Vestmannaeyjar Airport served as an evacuation point for elderly and patients from the hospital who could not evacuate by boat. After the eruption was over, the tephra provided suitable materials to extend the runways to 1,300 m and 1,100 m. A new control tower was constructed in 1978 and a new terminal was opened in 1980.[8]

In 1990 the runways were paved and a new hangar added in 1995. In the year 2000, the airport terminal was expanded and renovated.[8]

Air Iceland flew multiple daily flights to Reykjavík Airport, using Bombardier Dash 8-200s in its last years of operations. There were also private flights to the nearest point on mainland Iceland at Bakki Airport, taking approximately 7 minutes (depending on the weather). The scheduled flights to Reykjavík Airport take around 20 minutes.

After the opening of the Landeyjahöfn harbour in July 2010, which shortened the sailing time to the Icelandic mainland to 30 minutes (previously 3 hours), regular passenger flights were not as necessary as before. As a result, Air Iceland ended all scheduled activity on 3 August 2010. Eagle Air then became the main airline serving the airport, with smaller aircraft.[9]

Eagle Air suspended regular flights to Vestmannaeyjar in September 2020. From 2021, temporary funding agreements with the Ministry of Infrastructure to subsidise thrice-weekly flights have been intermittent and flights were available during:

As of 2024, the Icelandic government comitted to providing winter seasonal service to the airport.[5]

Airlines and destinations edit

As of April 2024, there are no regular commercial passenger flights to Vestmannaeyjar Airport. Eagle Air operated regular flights until 1 April 2024. Icelandair operates charter flights during the Þjóðhátið festival.[6]

AirlinesDestinations
IcelandairCharter: Reykjavík[15]

Statistics edit

Passengers and movements edit

Annual passenger traffic at VEY airport. See Wikidata query.
Number of
passengers[note 1]		 Number of
movements[note 2]
2003 45,156 13,244
2004 47,157 13,762
2005 50,490 13,526
2006 47,523 13,714
2007 48,882 13,200
2008 52,189 14,599
2009 55,382 11,034
2010 26,300 5,142
2011 20,430 4,022
2012 19,242 4,136
2013 17,655 4,159
2014 19,412 4,900
2015 19,637 4,718
2016 19,107 4,586
2017 17,395 4,817
2018 16,803 4,292
2019 11,690 3,484
[16]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Number of passengers including domestic, international and transit.
  2. ^ Number of movements represents total takeoffs and landings during that year.

References edit

  1. ^ THE AVIATION FACT FILE Archived 1 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine (Isavia)
  2. ^ "AIP Iceland: AD 2 - BIVM - Vestmannaeyjar / Vestmannaeyjar" (PDF).
  3. ^ kl (24 March 2024). "Flugi hætt til Vestmannaeyja". tigull.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b ladmin (14 April 2023). "Enn og aftur ekkert flug til Eyja". Eyjafréttir (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b Ragnarsson, Rafn Ágúst (24 March 2024). "Flugi til Húsavíkur og Vestmannaeyja haldið áfram yfir veturinn - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Flug til Vestmannaeyja – Þjóðhátíð 2024 | Icelandair IS". www.icelandair.com (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Tilraunir til flugreksturs". vefsafn.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur - Heimaslóð". heimaslod.is. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Vestmannaeyjar | Eagle Air Iceland". www.eagleair.is. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Icelandair hættir flugi til Vestmannaeyja - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). 29 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Ekkert flogið til Eyja". www.vb.is. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Flug hefst að nýju til Vestmannaeyja". www.vb.is. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  13. ^ ladmin (14 April 2023). "Enn og aftur ekkert flug til Eyja". Eyjafréttir (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  14. ^ Ísleifsson, Atli (15 December 2023). "Semja við Erni um flug til Eyja - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Flug frá Reykjavík til Vestmannaeyja frá 26.335 kr".
  16. ^ "Passengers, freight and mail through Icelandic airports 2003-2019". PX-Web.[permanent dead link]

External links edit

  Media related to Vestmannaeyjar Airport at Wikimedia Commons