For many aircraft transiting the North Atlantic, Iceland is a key stepping stone, with Keflavik Airport, a 45-minute drive from the capital Reykjavik, serving as the primary international gateway.
The airport was built by the U.S. military during World War II and was turned over to the Icelandic government after the war. In 1951, as the Cold War began to heat up, the U.S. military returned to re-establish an air base at Keflavik that it would occupy for the next 55 years.
The closure and withdrawal from the Keflavik air base by the U.S. in 2006 left many buildings unoccupied and created an opportunity for some companies, among them South Air, one of three FBOs at the airport. It started operation as a flight school and charter tour provider in the early 1970s and began FBO services in 1994. In 2007, David Johannsson, who had served as the general manager since 1999, along with several other partners, made an offer to then owner Air Atlanta Icelandic (an aircraft lessor) to purchase the struggling FBO, which was located in a building owned by fuel provider Exxon. The offer was accepted, but when Johannsson later asked his landlords to make needed improvements to the building, they declined, and he turned his eye to the larger, former U.S. Air Force terminal, which had stood vacant since the base closed. It took three years of negotiations before South Air was allowed to take over the building last July. The company spent $500,000 renovating 5,400 sq ft (500 sq m) on the ground floor of the terminal, creating a pair of enlarged passenger lounges, a family room with children’s play area, upgraded bathrooms with showers, two conference rooms (one 12-seat A/V equipped, and the other with eight seats), a refreshment area and the operations center. Rental cars from a local company can be delivered planeside, and Icelandic customs and immigration automatically meet each arriving aircraft.
Unruly passengers arriving at the FBO would be wise to note that the FBO has its own two-cell jail, a vestige of its military past. Johannsson said he plans to relocate one of the cells to the passenger area as part of a display on the facility’s history. Work continues on the second floor of the building, which the company plans to make available as offices to aviation companies. The former glass-enclosed control tower cabin will eventually be turned into another conference room, offering panoramic views of the airport.
International Traffic
The location specializes in quick turns. Johannsson estimates that only a quarter of the 10,000 passengers who visit the facility each year stay in the country overnight or longer, yet the company has access to a NATO-owned 40,900 sq ft (3,800 sq m) heated hangar that can accommodate anything up to a 737. On any given night it also has several hotel rooms in the nearby town of Keflavik on reserve. “The smaller airplanes, they have been flying for maybe four or six hours, they are stopping here and they appreciate when we can help them with a hotel just 10 minutes away from the airport,” Johannsson told AIN. “We take them there and pick them up in the morning.”
Security is strict at the airport, as all private passengers and crew heading to any of the service providers must pass through a screening checkpoint that is co-located with the South Air terminal. Indeed, noted Johannsson, he himself is required to pass through the same screening every day. Currently the checkpoint is open and staffed from 6:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., making re-entry to the airport outside those hours problematic. Cars, once screened, are allowed to drive to the aircraft on the ramp. While Johannsson told AIN his dream would be to establish some unused space in the terminal as snooze rooms, the security regulations for now, make such an amenity unworkable.
As at most other European FBOs, fueling at the Avfuel-affiliated location is conducted by a separate provider, but the company can help expedite fuel orders, as well as order catering from Icelandair’s ground handling service, and provide Type II de-icing from a pair of trucks. Staff can help with hotels in Reykjavik, organize ground transport, or even air tours of the country’s breathtaking scenery.
Peak season for private aviation at the airport is summer, when there is nearly 24 hours of daylight. While the traffic year-round is predominantly international, what little domestic traffic the country generates makes itself known at that time. Winter, with its overwhelming darkness and weather, is generally slow for private traffic, though Johannsson noted this January was much busier than the same time last year, and he anticipates business this year could return to the levels seen before the global recession of 2008.
South Air also provides limited ground handling at the country’s other international airports such as Akureyri and Egilsstaðir, which see far less private aviation traffic than the 2,000 flights a year handled by the Keflavik location. It has a staff of 22, most of whom have been there at least as long as Johannsson, providing a sense of familiarity and continuity to regular customers. He advises them to find out what customers need before they ask for it, and to treat them so they will remember the facility and the service. To reinforce those memories, each aircraft departs with a package of Icelandic cookies.
As for the incongruity of the name South Air in a country that features the world’s northernmost capital city, Johannson explained that when the company was founded in 1972 there was another company that served aviation in the northern part of the country. The name simply demarcated their respective areas of operation.