Ísafjörður Airport

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Ísafjörður Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorIsavia
ServesÍsafjörður, Iceland
Opened2 October 1960 (1960-10-02)
Elevation AMSL8 ft / 2 m
Coordinates66°03′29″N 23°08′07″W / 66.05806°N 23.13528°W / 66.05806; -23.13528
Map
IFJ is located in Iceland
IFJ
IFJ
Location of Airport in Iceland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 1,400 4,593 Asphalt
Statistics (2016[1])
Passengers33,076
Source: DAFIF[2] GCM[3]

Ísafjörður Airport (Icelandic: Ísafjarðarflugvöllur [ˈiːsaˌfjarðarˌflʏɣˌvœtlʏr̥]) (IATA: IFJ, ICAO: BIIS) is an airport serving Ísafjörður, a town in the Westfjords (Icelandic: Vestfirðir) region in northwestern Iceland.

History[edit]

Planning for the airport started in 1958 construction of the runway started the same year.[4][5] It was originally 1.100 meters long and the cost of the construction was 4.8 million ISK.[6][7] It was formally opened on 2 October 1960 with Gljáfaxi, a Douglas DC-3 from Flugfélag Íslands, being the first plane to land on the airport.[8]

Approach[edit]

Located in a fjord, the approach to the runway requires aircraft to fly close to the surrounding terrain, making it unique and more challenging than at most airports.[9][10] Approaches generally cannot be straight-in for either direction, and when landing to the northeast, a full 180 degree turn must be made before touchdown.[11] The sharp turn and the approach is featured as one of the landing challenges in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.[12][13]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

AirlinesDestinations
Icelandair Reykjavík

Statistics[edit]

Passengers and movements[edit]

Number of
passengers[note 1]		 Number of
movements[note 2]
2003 40,060 2,154
2004 45,395 2,496
2005 45,682 2,514
2006 44,604 2,144
2007 50,314 2,638
2008 51,791 2,468
2009 46,905 2,046
2010 43,204 2,092
2011 42,262 1,908
2012 40,331 2,010
2013 35,577 2,028
2014 34,946 1,874
2015 33,343 1,796
2016 33,076 2,006
2017 34,551 1,779
2018 32,552 2,061
2019 32,332 2,187
[14]
Control tower.

Incidents[edit]

On 20 March 1982, the left engine of Flugleiðir's Fokker F27 Friendship, with registration TL-FLM, blew up during takeoff from Ísafjörður Airport, at the altitude of 490 feet. The pilots managed to put out the fire but could not lower the left landing gear due to the damage it sustained in the explosion. Instead of trying to land on the narrow Ísafjörður airport with only two wheels down, the captain decided to fly about 230 km to the much larger Keflavík Airport to attempt an emergency landing there. Despite the front part of the engine almost breaking off in the explosion, the plane managed to land in Keflavík with minimal additional damage to the plane. All 25 people on board survived without injuries.[15][16][17][18]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Number of passengers including domestic, international and transit.
  2. ^ Number of movements represents total takeoffs and landings during that year.

References[edit]

  1. ^ THE AVIATION FACT FILE Archived 2017-02-01 at the Wayback Machine (Isavia)
  2. ^ Airport information for BIIS[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  3. ^ Airport information for IFJ at Great Circle Mapper.
  4. ^ "Flugvöllur á Ísafirði opnaður í næstu viku". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 24 September 1960. pp. 20, 19. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Flugvöllur opnaður". Alþýðublaðið (in Icelandic). 4 October 1960. pp. 15, 11. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Galdramenn fyrri tíðar í bland við kollega". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 4 October 1960. pp. 8, 13. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. ^ "1100 metra löng flugbraut tekin í notkun á Skipeyri við Ísafjörð". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 4 October 1960. pp. 3, 9. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Gljáfaxi leysti "Kötu" af hólmi". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 4 October 1960. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  9. ^ "This Is One Of The Most Challenging Approaches In The World". www.boldmethod.com.
  10. ^ "Extreme Airport Approach in Iceland! (HD)" – via www.youtube.com.
  11. ^ Birgir Olgeirsson (28 December 2019). "Flugmaður Air Iceland Connect lýsir beygjunni svakalegu inn að Ísafjarðarflugvelli". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  12. ^ Benedikt Bóas Hinriksson (23 June 2021). "Ísafjarðarbeygja háloftanna komin í Flight Simulator". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  13. ^ Giuseppe Nelv (18 June 2021). "Microsoft Flight Simulator Spotlight Landing Challenge Brings You to Iceland's Most Dangerous Airport". Twinfinite.net. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Passengers, freight and mail through Icelandic airports 2003-2019". PX-Web.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Hreyfillinn sprakk í aðeins 150 metra hæð". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 22 March 1982. pp. 1, 2, 4, 5, 48. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Giftusamleg björgun". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 23 March 1982. pp. 1, 16. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. ^ Gísli Einarsson; Edda Sif Pálsdóttir (5 April 2018). "Man eftir bragðinu af samlokunni". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Ég bjóst við meiri látum í nauðlendingunni". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 23 March 1982. pp. 20, 21, 48. Retrieved 2 January 2019.

External links[edit]

Media related to Ísafjörður Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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