The Minister of Transport, Sigurdur Ingi Jóhannsson, presented to the Government an agreement with the City of Reykjavik on research into the possibility of building a new the airport in Hvassahraun, the territory to the west of Hafnarfjörður, Morgunblaðið reported.
When the parties’ agreement was announced last fall, it was subject to the approval of the government and city council. Now it is done.
The agreement means that the parties will each contribute 100 million Icelandic krona (793 000 US dollars, 724 000 euro (by Islandsbanki), 200 million (1,5 mln US dollars, 1,4 mln euro) in total, to fund research over the next two years.
As it was earlier mentioned in Eurocontrol report, Icelandair requests the construction of a new airport closer to Reykavik that would operate both international and domestic flights. Currently, Keflavik is used for international flights whereas Reykjavik, 50 km away is used for domestic ones. Icelandair argues that shifting domestic flights to congested Keflavik is not feasible and that a second airport could be built allowing Reykjavik to be closed. Icelandair is the biggest airline at Keflavik and also the owner of Air Iceland, the biggest domestic airline. The Icelandic government currently investigates weather and flight conditions in Hvassahraun, the site chosen for the new airport.
