Keflavík International Airport, IATA code KEF, is Iceland’s main airport for international passengers. The airport’s own English pages say it is owned and operated by Isavia ohf. A technical information sheet on the same site lists the operator as Isavia Ltd. and lists operational hours as 24. Visit Iceland, separately, says the airport operates 24 hours a day.
Where it is
The airport’s transport page places Keflavík Airport on the Reykjanes peninsula, about 50 kilometers from Reykjavík city center. The taxi page on the same site says the distance between the airport and central Reykjavík is approximately 50 kilometers. Visit Iceland’s arrival article says the airport is about 48 kilometers, or 30 miles, from Reykjavík. Those are the figures on the pages that were read. This guide does not invent a third distance.
The KEF+ pages give a postal address: Keflavíkurflugvelli, 235 Keflavíkurflugvelli. The public telephone number printed in the airport footer is +354 425 6000. The technical sheet also gives a reference point at 63° 59′ 06″ N, 22° 36′ 20″ W, at the runway intersection, with an elevation of 171 feet, and a transition altitude of 7,000 feet. It says the airport is available in all seasons, with winter conditions from October to April.
Who runs it
Isavia’s own page says it manages Keflavík Airport and owns subsidiaries that handle air navigation and the domestic airports. The air-navigation company is named Avians on that page. Domestic flying is a different network from KEF. Visit Iceland describes Reykjavík Domestic Airport as the place for flights onward inside Iceland, and says that airport is an hour’s drive from Keflavík. Do not plan a domestic connection as if the two airports shared a terminal.
The airport information page says Keflavík is a fully coordinated level 3 airport for slot coordination. That is an airline-planning fact, not something a passenger books on this website. This site does not coordinate slots and does not speak for Isavia.
Why the airport matters to a trip
The KEF+ pages call Keflavík the main gateway into the country. They describe a 25-year development plan, first introduced in 2015 after consultation with the airport community, the local community, and other stakeholders, updated in 2022, and described as valid until 2045. The same pages say the work is financed by revenue from the airport’s operations, and that construction is phased according to passenger numbers and other factors. Examples they name are a larger terminal, infrastructure, the runway system, and access to the terminal. They also say travelers continue to pass through while construction is underway.
Visit Iceland’s “how to get there” article says there are two main ways to reach Iceland, by plane or by ferry, and that approximately 20 airlines operate year-round and seasonal flights from Europe and North America to KEF. It also says Akureyri International Airport in the north offers seasonal international connections. A geography article on the same site heads a section “Flight time is 3 hours from London and 5 hours from New York.” That is Visit Iceland’s general statement, not a timetable for a particular flight on a particular day. This guide does not add airline schedules.
What KEF is not
It is not Reykjavík. It is not the domestic airport. It is not this website. Questions about a ticket, a bag, or a wheelchair request belong with the airline or with the airport, not with a reading guide. The arriving and leaving pages collect the passenger steps those organizations publish. The Reykjanes page is about the peninsula the airport sits on, which is a region of its own, not only a curb outside the door.
Sources
- Keflavík Airport, Isavia
- Keflavík Airport, Airport information
- KEF+, Responsible development
- Keflavík Airport, Getting to and from KEF
- Keflavík Airport, Taxi
- Visit Iceland, Keflavik International Airport
- Visit Iceland, How to get to Iceland
- Visit Iceland, Geography of Iceland
- Visit Iceland, Getting around