Words by

Iryna Zubenko

Photo by

Jeff Hitchcock/Wikimedia Commons

Due to the orange weather alert that was in place across most of the country yesterday, a number of flights were disrupted. RÚV reports that 11 Icelandair departures from Keflavík International Airport were cancelled yesterday morning, and 10 flights were delayed until later in the day. The airline had to rebook a total of 3,600 passengers.

“We managed to get some of them on flights yesterday, but most will be flying today or tomorrow,” Guðni Sigurðsson, spokesperson for Icelandair, told RÚV.

The orange weather alert was in effect during the first half of the day. By 13:00, however, the flight schedule was back on track. All flights were operating on schedule this morning.

“We’re quite proud to have managed to restore the schedule so quickly and to get all passengers onto other flights. We had to add one extra flight, but otherwise we were able to accommodate passengers on our regular scheduled services,” Guðni said.

Bad weather is expected again today, with transport disrupted across much of the country due to strong winds and snowfall. In southeast Iceland, severe conditions are forecast, including sandstorms and road closures.

However, the weather is not expected to have a major impact on flights, aside from domestic flights to Ísafjörður, which have been cancelled due to conditions. Weather and transport disruptions will continue to be monitored throughout the day.

Yesterday’s weather also affected domestic flights, with seven flights to Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, and Ísafjörður cancelled. Guðni said most of those passengers would reach their destinations today, except for Ísafjörður, where disruption continues due to today’s weather.

Despite the blizzard, Keflavík International Airport remained open. Guðjón Helgason, spokesperson for Isavia, said that severe weather generally affects airline schedules more than the airport itself. Runways had to be kept clear and braking conditions maintained.

“Airports like Keflavík Airport are always open. We need to be able to receive emergency flights that may suddenly need to land in bad weather,” he said, adding, “But of course, situations can arise where it becomes difficult to service aircraft due to the weather.”