The assistant to the major of Reykjavik, Jón Kristinn Snaehólm, made a statement recently indicating that the city would reject an application submitted by Iceland Express to build a new air terminal building at the city’s airport.
“When we receive Iceland Express’ application, we’ll simply reply that the prerequisite for such a request is no longer at hand, because it has already been decided that this area will be used for Reykjavík University,” Snaehólm told the local press. Snaehólm said it wasn’t because of the proposal, but because of the uncertain future of the airport as a whole that the city would not be considering the application, despite a need for increased competition in the domestic air industry.
CEO of Iceland Express Matthías Imsland accused the mayor’s office of commenting to the media about an application that had not been examined but Snaehólm denied the claim. “According to urban planning, the lot in question has been reserved for Reykjavík University and a new transport centre as confirmed in a meeting between the Mayor, Vilhjálmur Th. Vilhjálmsson, and the aviation service ISAVIA in June,” Snaehólm said.
The proposed structure would serve both international and domestic flights for Iceland Express in order to help the airline compete with domestic flights offered by Air Iceland. Upon receiving the proposal, the CEO of the company operating Reyjavik’s airport was positive. “We will take this application seriously and discuss this with them [Iceland Express],” he said.
Unfortunately, the Minister of Transport and Reykjavik City Council will also need to weigh in before the final decision is made.