Keflavik Airport (KEF)
Flyctory.com Pros
- Effective services
- Very good connections to Europe and North America
- Nice shopping options
Flyctory.com Cons
- Rather remote location in Iceland
- Service issues outside Icelandair operating times
- No domestic flights
There is currently some effort to establish regular international flights from Akureyri (AEY) again, but in general, if you approach Iceland, Keflavik Airport (KEF) is the place to go. There is hardly any alternative option to get to the island, except the ferry from Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Thus, I have flown to and from the place in the past, including some 2021 experiences, on which this review is based.



Keflavik Airport (KEF) – Location & Transport
Keflavik Airport (KEF) is located in the very Southwest of Iceland on the Reykjanes peninsula. The closest city is Keflavik, which is also named Reykjanesbaer. The town is offering multiple hotels of different price range and some car rental services are based there, e.g. Procar Car Rental. There is only one hotel right at the terminal, with a short walking distance.
There are two typical ways to explore Iceland from Keflavik: you either take the bus, which is taking you along route 41 towards Reykjavik. Many tourists hire a car. A few companies like Hertz and Avis have desks in the terminal, between arrival and departure area. Most of them are located not too far away from the terminal. Very often, walking to the offices is easier than taking the shuttle bus. Two examples of companies I already reviewed are Geysir and the excellent Blue Car Rental. The car travel time to Reykjavik is 40 to 60 minutes.



Keflavik Airport (KEF) – Connections
Having in mind that Iceland is an island of 300,000 inhabitants, Keflavik Airport (KEF) is excellently connected. The key airline, of course, is Icelandair, who connect European as well as North American destinations. In order to arrange that, the planes typically leave to Europe in the early morning, come back to Iceland right after noon and then head to North America, from where they arrive in the early morning. This means that early morning hours and in early afternoon, the airport may be very busy (also see arrivals).

However, especially during summer time, there are multiple other airlines operating connections to Iceland, European as well as North American ones. Scandinavian and British destinations might be the most popular ones. A few times a week, you may also connect to Vagar, Faroe Islands (FAE). There are also Keflavik to Greenland flights, but the majority of connections from Iceland are served by Reykjavik Domestic (RKV), which is also the place to run domestic connections.
Arriving at Keflavik Airport (KEF)
As mentioned above, there are peak times at Keflavik Airport (KEF). As the airport and Icelandair need to guarantee that you will make your connection from Europe to North America (or vice versa) with a transfer time of 60 to 90 minutes, it is typically perfectly organized and also arriving at the airport works smoothly and efficient. However, during Covid-19 times (even under reduced flight volume), this system broke, as there were immigration health checks before immigrating. In the pictures below, you see the long queues I had in summer 2021, waiting after I received my luggage. The whole arrivals area was blocked with people.






A popular place before immigrating to Iceland is the duty free store at arrival, by the way. This is mainly caused by the high taxes on alcohol once you are into the country.
Departing from Keflavik Airport (KEF)
Typically, departing from Keflavik works very smoothly. However, they are very rigid (and hey, I am German, we are rigid people) in regards of timing. Even when I flew Saga Premium Class, the Icelandair Business Class product, and despite open check in counters, they did not want to accept my luggage earlier than three hours before flight departure. This is especially messy as there is hardly a place to sit down and work while you are waiting for the check-in landside.




Security and getting airside is typically very efficient. There is a large duty-free store, which is having some interesting local produces (and, again, cheaper alcohol), but apart from that, no major surprises. You are then getting to a really nice kind of waiting area with a bunch of stores around. If you have a late flight (there are multiple flights around midnight), these services are likely closed, though.














The waiting areas at the gates are very modern, with power plugs and other facilities you expect to have while waiting for the flight. Walking from the waiting area to the gates may take quite some steps, though.








Keflavik Airport (KEF) – Services
Especially if you have a late night flight, services from Keflavik are extremely limited. You might just find the airside kiosk-style store and the duty-free being open. Before security, you can claim your tax refund. However, I have to state that I regularly run into issues with that (mainly meaning that you won’t get repaid). Please be aware to ask for a copy of the invoice for warranty reasons in case you buy major goods in Iceland.

Another service you may only check out during typical Icelandair operation times is their Saga Lounge. I already reviewed this place in a previous posting:
Saga Lounge Kefklavik (KEF)
Future of Keflavik Airport (KEF)
You might have read it in my review of Reykjavik Domestic Airport (RKV) already, there are discussions about building a new airport for Iceland, which is combining domestic and international connections closer to the capital area, South of Hafnafjördur. There is a dispute about that, mainly as the domestic airport is close to the capital’s main hospital and this is very helpful for the national health care.
Other plans suggest to built a plan-alike light rail connection between Reykjavik and the airport.
Keflavik Airport (KEF) – My View
In general, I really like Keflavik Airport (KEF). However, it has some disadvantages. First of all, there is the large distance to the capital and the problematic transfer to domestic flights via RKV Airport. In some organisational things, the airport and the airlines are a bit of stubborn, e.g. check-in service times and early / late openings of dining and shopping options. This is especially critical for very early or late flights from Iceland’s only major international airports, which does not offer too many opportunities to distract yourself outside main attraction opening times.
Flyctory.com and Iceland
Here are all my postings related to Iceland:
I'm in Finland this week, featuring two floorball match. However, the Nordic country is not represented in my Songs of the ...
While quite a lot of traveling is ahead of me during the next weeks, November and December 2024 was rather ...
Iceland is among my favorite travel spots in the world. I am also very fascinated by the Icelandic music scene ...
Hungary this weekend! After my trip to Indonesia, I am back in Hungary after such a long time of absence ...
The pictures already suggest it: this hotel review is in fact not based on a recent stay. My wife and ...
After my first posting about the debut event of the 3x3 World Floorball Championships was about the first day of ...
Despite the World Floorball Championships coverage, I of course want to keep my Songs of the Week updated. Due to the ...
Husavik used to be one of the key whaling spots in Iceland. Nowadays, the city is still famous for the ...
I struggled a bit compiling the Songs of the Week this time. The partial flight miles for my current trip ...
The last geothermal spa my wife and I visited on our tour through Iceland in May 2023 was Krauma. Compared ...
This week, I am dealing with quite a lot of music postings during the week. There are two reasons for ...
Reykjavik has been the last stop (before staying at the Aurora Star at Keflavik Airport KEF) of the Icelandic Ring ...
It's time to look back to . After I shared my new format My Year in Travel with you the first time, ...
Unfortunately, I could not complete the Country Christmas Playlist this year due to technical issues. However, since the days become ...
Oh, Christmas is approaching quickly now. A huge number of songs I scanned for my Songs of the Week this time ...
The recent seismic and volcanic actions on the Reykjanes peninsula really touch me. Dung the last years, Iceland has more ...
About the album Early Warning, the Icelandic artist Myrkvi states on his website, It represents a conclusion to the duo’s past and ...
I recently introduced you to the Geothermal Exhibition at the Hellisheidi Power Plant. Due to the high geophysical activity in ...
The are numerous and spectacular waterfalls in Iceland, spread all over the island. However, the Seljalandsfoss is one of the ...
It is well-known to most visitors of Iceland that the Nordic island produces a vast majority of their energy with ...
The Icelandic artist Arny Margret is truly a musician I enjoy following with Flyctory.com. On 22nd September, she is releasing ...
Indie-folk, classic sound or pop music? It is hard to categorize any mind of music into categories. Without a doubt, ...
Husavik - as you recently have learned, the small town in North Iceland is one of my most favorite spots ...
Even though I am German, I am not an overwhelming soccer (or, for major parts of the world: football) fan ...
Reykjavik and the surrounding cities are the core of Iceland. Even though the area does rather feel like other Nordic ...
Sometimes, I Made An Album is named the English language debut album of Dadi Freyr (who is correctly spelled Daði Freyr) ...
Home is where the heart is - I had the idea to this posting about my favorite cities of the ...
Our Ring Road Trip through Iceland in April and May 2023 took us to three geothermal spas. I already introduced ...
Sometimes, you just need to learn where your steak - or your Icelandic sweater is originally coming from. What is ...
After I introduced you to the Boeing 757-200 Saga Premium Class, the premium product of Icelandair, in 2021, I felt ...
The first night in Iceland or the last night before going back home - that's about the time when quite ...
Newcomers and established artists, rock and schlager, party songs and deep messages - I feel that this edition of my ...
There are a bunch of iconic dishes in Iceland. One which made it globally is Skyr. Isey, one of the ...
Akureyri in Northern Iceland is my favorite city of the island. Also as I expected to be there just the ...
Husavik is not only known due to the Fire Saga Eurovision movie on Netflix, but is more than that one of the ...
Traveling out of nowehere: I compiled this set of songs in Swansea in Whales, watching the very last Rock of ...
The black lava beaches of Iceland are one of the must visits to many tourists. One of the most well-known ...
Minor and major volcanic eruptions happen regularly in Iceland. People pay a lot of money for helicopter trips or do ...
Puffins are one of my favorite animals. Thus, being able to say hello to them in wildlife conditions is always ...
During our 2023 Ring Road Trip through Iceland, we had a wide range of stays: from guesthouses to hotel chain ...
I have struggled quite much with health issues this week - which also prevented me to travel to some British Rock ...
Iceland is definitely one of the countries I love to travel to most. The unique nature, a very interesting culture ...
Our April and May 2023 trip along the Icelandic Ring Road had also been dedicated to visiting some of the ...
Oops, I did it again. Just within about a month, I feel that I had a nice volume of flights, ...
On the week at which I am publishing this review, many people are focusing on Liverpool. They look forward to ...
Eight days of traveling along the Icelandic Ring Road are done. The trip was just intense. My wife and I ...
Last full day in Iceland. We decided not to start too late (also because the car had to be moved ...
The circle is closed on Day 7 - we are back in Reykjavik, where the trip more or less started ...
Day 6 on your Iceland Ring Road trip - time to start counting down the kilometers towards Reykjavik and Keflavik ...
We arrived significantly later than expected in Husavik on Day 4, so that Day 5 was packed with Husavik action ...
With the weather being much colder than expected, we had to alter our travel plans for the Iceland Ring Road ...
After the intense travel at Day 2 of our Iceland Ring Road trip, Day 3 was thought to be a ...
After arriving in Iceland the day before, Sunday 30th April 2023 was thought to be the most intense travel day ...
Let's take you on a trip to Iceland. This is the first proper entry to my Trip Report, which takes on ...
Traveling on the Icelandic Ring road or Road 1 is one of the "classic" trips you can do on the ...
As I am having some quite intense travels ahead of me, I currently try to prepare as much contents for ...
After some rather intense traveling, I am glad that there is just a short trip this week. I concentrated on ...
Damn, it is already four years... And it is more than 2,750 postings since then. On 25th February 2018, I ...
In this Pictured Story, I want to take you on a road trip in Iceland which I in fact already ...
The fishing industry has been (and still is) an important part of the Icelandic economy. The Reykjavik Maritime Museum is ...
Even though all my visits to the area have been pre-Flyctory.com, Isafjordur and the West Fjords are belong my favorite ...
Since I ran into her song akureyri in my Songs of the Week feature as of 28th January 2022, I really loved to listen ...
Many tourist traveling to Iceland put the day trip of the Golden Circle on the top of their list. Apart from ...
If you follow Flyctory.com for a while, you know that I love the Northern Icelandic city of Akureyri. This posting ...
This review is about music from Iceland. I am always happy to run into music from one of my most ...
Despite the country as such is rather small (measured by the number of people, not by area), Iceland has some ...
It's summer season in Iceland right now again. People explore the amazing highlands. While I still struggle to complete a ...
Flugsafn Islands - or the Icelandic Aviation Museum - has of course been a attraction I just could not miss while ...
Icelandair Domestic, Air Iceland Connect or Flygfelag Islands - the inter-Iceland aviation connections nowadays driven by Icelandair have different historic ...
Okay, this week, my Songs Of The Week listeners need to stay strong: I started my list with schlager (with a touch ...
During one of my trips to Iceland in 2021, I decided to have two nights right at Reykjavik Domestic Airport ...
Akureyrarkirkja or simply the Akureyri Church is one of the key eyecatchers of the Northern Icelandic city. The Lutheran church, ...
The Vestmannaeyjar islands and especially Heimaey, the main island of the "West Men Islands", are a key tourist attraction of ...
There are a few Turf House Museums you can visit in Iceland. The UNESCO is even thinking about putting this ...
Apart from the legendary Blue Lagoon, the Viking World / Vikingheimar in Nardvik on Reykjanes is likely one of the most ...
As some of my plans during my stay at Vestmannaeyjar did not work out as expected, I had time to ...
The Settlement Exhibition Reykjavik (sometimes also with an added ± 871) gives you an insight of the 10th century settlement ...
While whaling has been quite popular in Iceland's past, the large marine mammals are nowadays rather the stars on a ...
Going from Northern Iceland's largest city to the famous Myvatn Thermal Bath or even further on to Egilstadir - the ...
The F35 - or Kjölur Route is likely the most famous road trip in Iceland, apart from route 1, the Ring ...
After I ran into her song akureyri and made it head one of my Songs Of The Week episodes, I was really looking ...
Iceland is indeed a country, which is famous for its broad music culture. There are several Icelandic acts, which became ...
When I visited Iceland in October 2021, my Lufthansa flight from Munich Airport (MUC) to Keflavik (KEF) arrived at the ...
Icelandair gave me a very short-term cancellation for my flight to Vestmannaeyear, when I visited the island. However, I definitely ...
After I have already been struggling with the idea of the Songs of the Week, the feedback on my previous edition ...
The unique architecture, the significant height of 75 meters and its location on top of the hill right in the ...
When I visited the harbor-area attractions in Reykjavik, I felt it is a good opportunity to share as many of ...
You can almost read the popularity of Iceland as a tourist destination also for North American tourists that the capital ...
Flying from Reykjavik Domestic Airport (RKV) was thought to be one of the highlights of my trip to Iceland in ...
It is time for the final posting of the years, simply named The Best Ones 2021. After looking into my ...
I so far did not have too many opportunities to cross the Polar Circle in my life. A few years ...
I did a couple of interesting road trips in Iceland during my summer stay in August 2021. Even though I ...
Especially due to a scheduled flight with Norlandair, I looked for a stay not too far away from Akureyri Airport ...
While nature lovers, highland road freaks and horse riders roll over Iceland in summer, the key attraction in fall and ...
Lava and volcanic eruptions are a regular part of life on Iceland. In 2010, for example, the Eyjafjallajökull slowed down ...
What is your first thought about Iceland? I think many people associate the stunning, unique nature with the Nordic island ...
In October 2021, on a flight from Munich (MUC) to Keflavik Airport (KEF), I decided to go for a new ...
For my October 2021 trip to Iceland, I went for a car rental provider which I had used before for ...
On my summer 2021 trip to Iceland, I had the last night before heading into Greater Reykjavik in Akranes. Hotel ...
Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss or Gullfoss - Iceland is full of very famous waterfalls. Urridafoss (which translates to "Sea Trout Waterfall") is ...
As my August trip to Iceland was prolonged by one night, as my Icelandair business class flight to Frankfurt was ...
What do Icelandic people do if there is a public toilet in the heart of their capital, which they don't ...
Apart from visiting the elite ice hockey league match of Fjölnir during my October 2021 trip to Iceland, I also ...
Relative to their population, Iceland is the sixth biggest ice hockey nation in the world. Out of 100,000 people, some ...
Covid-19 lead to numerous flight cancellations and rebookings. One of them was that I finally ended up flying back from ...
Hverir is one of the most popular geothermal areas in Northern Iceland. Two the key drivers is obviously that it ...
Summer feels to be over - Fall 2021 is coming. Finally, I had much more - and better - trips ...
We all know that Santa Claus is living in Rovaniemi, Finland... Or is he home to Russia? Northern Canada? There ...
Having a swim in a (somehow) natural geothermal pool in Iceland feels to be the equivalent to the Blue Lagoon ...
After so many other options failed, I opted to extend the coverage on Flyctory.com to the wonderful island of Iceland ...
What is the shortest flight time between Canada and the European Union? Can you walk from the USA to Russia? ...
Friday, the 13th... On 13th August 2021, I was scheduled to have my very first Boeing 737-MAX flight. Icelandair from ...
The first overnight during my August 2021 trip to Iceland was right next to one of the most iconic places ...
Half of us got one - and most of them love it/him. The philosopher Nietzsche even defined a penis envy ...
In August 2021, I finally visited a place which has been hidden from me for so long. I had so ...
In Iceland, Akureyri is called the Capital Of The North. Excluding the Reykjavik Metropolitan Area, it is the largest city on ...
I would say that at the time of writing (August 2021), Sky Lagoon is something like the hottest product in ...
Iceland - one of the most painful experiences this year for me. I already had booked a trip to the ...
Airport Hotels
Here are all hotels with a good airport connection:
I typically prefer Hilton Hotels and my second-most flown airport so far is Frankfurt Airport (FRA). Thus, it feels quite ...
In September 2024, I had two Rock of Ages musical amateur shows in Newcastle in Northern England. Not having too many other ...
In early October 2024, I took a trip to Indonesia. The trip featured several staggered flights, optimized for cost and ...
My July 2024 tennis trip to Newport, Rhode Island, featured quite a range of different hotels. I spent the first ...
For my coverage of the Swedish Floorball Finals 2024 in the Friends Arena in Solna, I originally had a booking ...
As flights were much cheaper from Brussels (BRU) than from Dusseldorf (DUS) or Frankfurt (FRA), I opted for the Belgian ...
When I received my rental car from Avis at Myrtle Beach Airport (MYR), the representative there surprised me. Homewood Suites? ...
Even though I really enjoyed my trip with Saudia Airlines from Tunis (TUN) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL), the transfer times ...
At the time when I started writing this posting in early March 2024, Flyctory.com already featured reviews of over 320 ...
A strike in Germany caused me to re-book my February 2024 flight to Dubai. Instead of Thursday morning, I landed ...
In order to cover the Jenn Bostic show in London in February 2024, I was looking for a hotel in ...
Arriving on a Friday from Germany at Tunis Airport (TUN) and heading on the day thereafter, I was looking for ...
Reviving somewhat the same route we took ten years ago, when my wife and I married in Las Vegas - ...
In late October 2023, I had an overnight transfer at Budapest Airport (BUD). Such a special place to me, as ...
After staying five nights at the Conrad Tokyo, having a hotel directly linked to the airport terminal the night before ...
Having an 11:40 flight from Krakow Airport (KRK) in July 2023, I just did not feel to go for the ...
The first night in Iceland or the last night before going back home - that's about the time when quite ...
On my mileage run in May 2023, I slept in two typical air room hotels (even though both were landside, ...
Arriving late at Madrid Airport (MAD) Terminal 4 from Germany and heading on to Lisbon (LIS) in Portugal early the ...
During my October 2022 trip tour-chasing Weird Al Yankovic in Florida, I also had a night in Daytona. As I ...
Attending a frequent traveler meeting nearby, I had the opportunity to visit the Hampton by Hilton Frankfurt Airport towards the ...
On my recent March 2023 trip to Pittsburgh watching the Pittsburgh Penguins, I wanted to close a circle and also ...
If you need a night at Glasgow Airport (GLA), you might be rather surprised about the rather wide range of ...
It is hard to argue against that the Sofitel London Heathrow is the most convenient option when you need a ...
On the fourth day of my Pittsburgh Penguins trip in March 2022, right before I headed on to Nashville, I ...
Before in fact exploring Kansas City itself in July, I had a night at an airport hotel close to Kansas ...
The night before I headed to Lillehammer for the Tennis Davis Cup tie Norway vs. India, I had a night ...
Second stay on the "hunt" for some budget nights around Nashville: after I had two nights at the Hampton Inn ...
Being able to have a look into the Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport was the cause of a rather ...
In April 2022, I went to Warsaw to see my favorite musical Rock of Ages. In order to stay being able ...
During one of my trips to Iceland in 2021, I decided to have two nights right at Reykjavik Domestic Airport ...
Quite some hectic a few weeks before I actually visited my favorite musical Rock of Ages again. After the show has been ...
In 2009, a former Pan Am Boeing 747-212B has started its (likely) final operation: based on the initiative and business ...
When I visited Iceland in October 2021, my Lufthansa flight from Munich Airport (MUC) to Keflavik (KEF) arrived at the ...
Right after arriving at Toronto-Pearson Airport (YYZ) in November 2021, my wife and I headed to the TownePlace Suites Mississauga-Airport ...
Especially due to a scheduled flight with Norlandair, I looked for a stay not too far away from Akureyri Airport ...
Due to rail strikes, I had to re-plan my whole trip to Frankfurt Airport before heading to Canada. I finally ...
New regional carrier: since mid-2021, Bolzano Airport (BZO) is operating scheduled flights with their own carrier, SkyAlps. For an early ...
With multiple floorball matches in the Vantaa region, like the EräViikingit matches against SC Classic on 22nd October and against ...
As my August trip to Iceland was prolonged by one night, as my Icelandair business class flight to Frankfurt was ...
Parking fees at Dusseldorf Airport got ridiculously high in recent past. For my August 2021 trip to Poland (from Thursday ...
Apart from several stays around the terminals, Frankfurt Airport nowadays features four airport hotels with direct walk-in connection to Terminal ...
The hotel situation at Cologne / Bonn Airport used to be quite bothering. There used to be a single hotel ...
Most of the flights from Germany to Dubai lead to an arrival time in the United Arab Emirates at about ...
I would say that the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminal 2/3 has been one of the ...
In order to have a more comfortable (and longer) sleep, I decided to go for a night at the ibis ...
In early January 2020, I had a British Airways Mileage Run, flying from Cologne/Bonn to Gatwick and then spending a ...
Helsinki Airport is nicely staffed with airport hotels: the GLO Hotel is located right inside the terminal building, two more ...
After I had some stays at Hilton Munich Airport in the past, I was happy to be back in this ...
In late November 2019, I had a short stay in Madrid. Due to a recommendation of a friend and due ...
Right after visiting the Tennis Hall of Fame Open, I spent the fourth night of my Weird Al Yankovic & ...
Thousands of people pass Hatton Cross every day without ever getting an impression of the area. The Piccadilly Line London ...
As a first overnight before heading to the United States to see Weird Al Yankovic and tennis in Newport, I ...
After I stayed at the ibis Styles London ExCeL during the Country 2 Country 2018 already, I chose the hotel ...
After I made my trip to Nashville, my stay during the CMA Fest 2019 was the Hampton Inn Nashville-Airport. I ...
In order to be able to visit Graceland and many other attractions in Memphis on my trip to CMA Fest ...
The first stage of my trip to Nashville in 2019 brought me to Washington. As I had a flight connection ...
During my February 2019 visit to Philadelphia featuring the NHL Stadium Series match and my round trip with Southern Airways ...
I chose the ibis Canning Town just North of the River Thames as my stay for the Country 2 Country ...
For my floorball trip to the the Swiss Women matches between the Floorball Riders and Appelnzell and Frauenfeld vs. Jets, ...
During a business-related trip to Switzerland's economic capital, I stayed at Novotel Zurich Airport Messe (Trade Fair). Apart from attractive ...
Due to a Eurowings flight cancellation on a London daytrip in early January, I got stuck at Stansted Airport. The ...
There is a huge variety of airport hotels around Madrid-Barajas. In early December, I chose the ibis option, which is ...
As my favourite flight, LA 705 from Frankfurt to Madrid, is quite late in the evening, I know quite many ...