Icelandic regional airline “Eagle Air” (Flugfélagið Ernir) stops regular flights between Reykjavik capital airport (ICAO: BIRK) and Vestmannaeyjar (ICAO: BIVM). All scheduled flights after 5.September are cancelled. The founder and owner of Eagle Air Hörður Guðmundsson told Flugblogg, it has happened because of the decreasing amount of passengers between two airports and competition with subsidised ferry line.
“The main reason is the lack of passengers. We are in unfair competition with the subsided ferry. It costs almost nothing to use this boat, but in the private sector of aviation, we need to charge full fare. When the number of passengers start to decline, the only way we can do is stop to fly there,” said Hörður Guðmundsson.
He added that the situation on internal market is mirroring the world wide trends: “That is not new, it happens all around the world. For example, Icelandair before the COVID-19 stopped to fly to several destinations in the US.”
Hörður Guðmundsson said he considers the relaunch of the route in future: “We might will fly later, but the conditions must to change.”
