A new taxiway inaugurated at Keflavik to speed up operations

A new taxiway has officially been put into use at Keflavik Airport. The taxiway, which has been named Mike, connects the terminal’s apron and runway. The taxiway is Isavia‘s first addition to the runway system, as all other additions were built by NATO and the United States military.

„This addition to Keflavik Airport‘s runway system is a major milestone in the development of the airport and plays a big role in increasing its competitiveness. Keflavik Airport has tough international competitors and we are constantly looking for ways to strengthen the airport‘s operations, improve its facilities for airlines and improve the passenger experience,“ says Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson, Isavia‘s Chief Commercial and Airport Development Officer.

The new taxiway is intended to increase the safety of the runway system by improving the flow of arrivals and departures. This means that aeroplanes will get off and onto runways earlier, increasing the capacity of the runway system and speeding up aircraft handling. The taxiway will decrease the waiting time for planes to get off the runway or take off during peak hours, and as a result, reduce the carbon footprint of planes on the ground, which is one of the airport‘s goals.

The first plane that followed Mike was a Boeing 737-Max-8 plane from Icelandair that was travelling from Keflavik Airport to Oslo.The taxiway is no small project as it is 1200 metres long and 35 metres wide. For comparison, the amount of asphalt used in the project would be enough to pave 35 football fields. The cost of the taxiway was almost 4 billion ISK.

Construction on Mike began in 2022 and was completed in the early summer of 2023.