Iceland’s international airport, Keflavik, has undergone expansion, with new restaurants and shops. While the prior atmosphere was intended to convey a “global” quality, new amendments are designed to remind folks more of Reykjavik (just a one hour drive away) and other unique aspects of Iceland’s culture and scenery. More on this story at this link.
I enjoy stopovers at Keflavik and given its strategic position between North America and Europe, believe they’ll have success with this business model.
Traffic at the airport has about doubled in the past 10 years. Who would have guessed that the UAE airports would be so successful. After all, very few people actually get out there,
We’ll see what happens. Iceland is beautiful and unique. I’m fond of Icelandair’s deal where you can stop at the Island for up to a week without extra cost enroute between Europe and North America. If they keep expanding their routes, that alone will cause significant increase in traffic.
I hope they succeed…Reykjavik is great…but I’m doubtful they can do this. Certainly it will make the airport a nicer place to be, but how will they get planes to stop there, when most people just want to one-hop it across the ocean? I can’t see European or U.S. airlines stopping there routinely, although many of them have flights to and from Iceland.
I think that IS where their expansion will come from: Agressive promotion of their flights and their home.
The Mideast airlines are in a different situation. Not only are they financially able to expand fleets and routes readily, but they also occupy a logical stopping point for travelers between some widely-placed destinations where a stop is needed anyway. No one actually needs to stop on a trans-Atlantic flight.