A number of factors—such as the new collective bargaining agreement, rising fuel costs and a decrease in tourists—have contributed to increased fares for the airport transit bus, but management believes tourists will hardly feel the difference.
As Vísir reports, the company Kynnisferðir—better known to visitors as Reykjavík Excursions—recently raised fares on one-way and round trip tickets between the BSÍ bus terminal and Keflavík International Airport. Whereas previously these fares were 3,000 ISK and 5,499 ISK respectively, they are now 3,499 ISK and 6,499.
Björn Ragnarsson, the managing director of Reykjavík Excursions, offered several explanations for the increase.
First of all, Björn points out that fares have not risen at all in recent years, while Iceland’s economic landscape has changed considerably. The new collective bargaining agreement, signed by management and approved by union workers, includes wage increases, while the fall of WOW Air has contributed to a decline in the number of tourists to the country.
These same tourists, Björn believes, are unlikely to feel the pinch of these fare hikes, due to the current exchange rate.
“The fare hike is smaller when it comes to tourists and the currency that they pay with,” he told reporters. “The króna doesn’t say it all; we simply have a tiny currency in Iceland. In the bigger picture, the fare increase is small in euros.”
This, of course, only applies to tourists from the EU; even Icelanders use this bus service to get to and from the airport, and tourists to Iceland hail from all over the world. On the positive side, fares are not likely to increase again for a while to come.
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