Massive winter storm affected all flights in Keflavik (ICAO: BIKF), planned on the first half of 7.February, according to Flightradar24 data. Icelandic flag carrier Icelandair cancelled all 10 flights to Europe, which usually departed from Iceland before noon. Icelandic low-cost carrier Play cancelled two flights, scheduled before 06:00UTC and 07:00UTC. Together with European airlines, 15 flights were affected. No aircraft landed in Keflavik between midnight and 11:00UTC. The last arrived flight was Play airline FPY7G from Copenhagen (ICAO: EKCH), which landed at 23:58UTC on 6.February.
A strong winter storm arrived in Iceland on evening 6.February. According to Keflavik aviation forecast TAF, strong winds with gusts up to 50 knots (~25 m/s) were expected from 22:00UTC 6.February to 18:00UTC 7.February. The strongest winds were expected between 03:00UTC and 07:00UTC 7.February, with wind gusts up to 80 knots (~40 m/s).
The actual weather report for Keflavik METAR shows the strongest wind was around 04:00UTC 7.February, when the wind was 53 knots with gusts of 77 knots (~35 m/s). According to historical METAR data, winds with gusts from 48 to 77 knots were detected in Keflavik from 01:30UTC to 10:30UTC 7.February. The ground crew would be unable to serve aircraft during wind gusts more than 50 knots due to safety reasons.
