Vestmannaeyjar Airport

Vestmannaeyjar Airport (Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur ) is a two-runway airport on the island of Heimaey, in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. It is also known as Westman Islands Airport.

The airport services seasonal, charter and medical flights as well as general aviation. On 1 April 2024, year-round scheduled flights by Eagle Air to the airport ceased.

Operations
As of 2024, there are no year-round regular scheduled services to the airport. The airport services general aviation, medical and charter flights.

Since 2020, there has been a lack of commercial viability for flights. Intermittent government subsidies for scheduled service continued with Eagle Air until 2024. As of March 2024, the Icelandic government committed to providing winter seasonal service to the airport.

Icelandair has regularly offered charter flights during the Þjóðhátið festival held on the island during a weekend in August.

The main alternative to flying is taking the ferry to Landeyjahöfn and driving to Reykjavik, which takes around 3 hours in total.

History
The airport was opened on 13 November 1946 with a 60 x 800 m single runway (13/31). It is the first airport that the Icelandic government constructed without foreign or military assistance. In 1953 the first control tower was constructed. It was later lengthened to 900 m by 1973. In 1971, the second runway, 04/22, began construction. There was a lack of fill material on the island which made construction slow.

During Eldfell's volcanic eruption in 1973, Vestmannaeyjar Airport served as an evacuation point for elderly and patients from the hospital who could not evacuate by boat. After the eruption was over, the tephra provided suitable materials to extend the runways to 1,300 m and 1,100 m. A new control tower was constructed in 1978 and a new terminal was opened in 1980.

In 1990 the runways were paved and a new hangar added in 1995. In the year 2000, the airport terminal was expanded and renovated.

Air Iceland flew multiple daily flights to Reykjavík Airport, using Bombardier Dash 8-200s in its last years of operations. There were also private flights to the nearest point on mainland Iceland at Bakki Airport, taking approximately 7 minutes (depending on the weather). The scheduled flights to Reykjavík Airport take around 20 minutes.

After the opening of the Landeyjahöfn harbour in July 2010, which shortened the sailing time to the Icelandic mainland to 30 minutes (previously 3 hours), regular passenger flights were not as necessary as before. As a result, Air Iceland ended all scheduled activity on 3 August 2010. Eagle Air then became the main airline serving the airport, with smaller aircraft.

Eagle Air suspended regular flights to Vestmannaeyjar in September 2020. From 2021, temporary funding agreements with the Ministry of Infrastructure to subsidise thrice-weekly flights have been intermittent and flights were available during:


 * January 2021 to August 2021, with Air Iceland Connect.
 * December 2022 to April 2023, with Eagle Air.
 * 15 December 2023 to 1 April 2024, with Eagle Air.

As of 2024, the Icelandic government committed to providing winter seasonal service to the airport.

Airlines and destinations
As of April 2024, there are no regular commercial passenger flights to Vestmannaeyjar Airport. Eagle Air operated regular flights until 1 April 2024. Icelandair operates charter flights during the Þjóðhátið festival.