Three major projects (EUR1 billion) at Keflavik Airport in next 12 years – right choice? Part one

Iceland is a physically larger country than some might know; it is the second largest in Europe, but with a population the size of a typical mid-ranking city.

That it has become not only a hub for tourism from all over the world but also an air hub between Europe and North America, with a vast range of sophisticated stopover options, is quite remarkable.

But the natural and financial world explosions of the first decade of the 21st century, which attracted and supported visitors in droves, were nullified by subsequent airline failures and financial squeezes and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Investment in airport infrastructure, which always lagged behind traffic gains, was put on hold.

Now as the country and its tourist offer gets back on its feet, the airports and navigation services operator, Isavia, proposes to rationalise its development plan. To speed it up considerably, and wrap up three separate projects in a short space of time to a total value of EUR1 billion.

That's EUR2666 for every one of Iceland's inhabitants.

The question is, mindful of previous events, potential new ones, and of how route development will or will not proceed as the country's two main airlines slug it out, would a more modest incremental procedure focused on quality over quantity not be a better option?

This is part one of a two-part report.