Iceland has been hit by a severe storm for the past few days, which has caused many traffic problems. In air transport, almost all flights were cancelled, only a few planes managed to take off or land at Keflavik Airport (KEF), during a period when the weather calmed down. The wind blowing at a speed of more than 100 km/h created snow drifts on the roads, and almost all roads were closed for traffic. There was also bad weather at the sea with waves of over ten meters. All roads connecting Reykjavik and Keflavik Airport were closed, and the airport was cut off from the rest of Iceland by road. Icelandair and PLAY, airlines based at Keflavik Airport, were the most affected by these traffic disruptions, as their passengers remained “trapped in Iceland” or were waiting in Europe or North America for their flights. Many passengers could not get to the airport at all, or leave the airport to other cities in Iceland. This happened at a time when a large number of travelers travel for Christmas and New Year, to spend them with their families.
Because of all these challenges, Icelandair organized a ten-minute return flight between Keflavik Airport (KEF) and Reykjavik Airport (RKV), which is located in the city of Reykjavik itself. The distance between these airports is about 40 kilometers. The flight was organized with a Boeing 757-200 aircraft, registration number TF-ISJ. There were pilots and cabin crew on the flight, who could then fly to international destinations. Two tons of food were also transported to supply the restaurants at Keflavik airport.
Icelandair has chartered two aircraft that will join the fleet to help transport passengers who have been left waiting for the weather to improve. Boeing 777-200 of the airline Privilege Style and Airbus A330-300 of the airline Hi Fly Malta, which is in the colors of the new airline FlyPOP, were rented.
In the coming days, a complete normalization of traffic and transportation of all passengers waiting for their flights is expected.
