Iceland
Keflavik International Airport
Reasonably-priced flights to Iceland from Edinburgh, advertised on the easyJet website toward the end of the previous year, prompted a week-long stay in Iceland beginning on Tuesday 3 May 2016. During the summer months, Icelandic time is one hour behind the UK and being so far north the late spring and summer days are very long. Keflavik serves as the country's international airport and from there it's around 50km, or a 40 minute drive, to Reykjavik city centre which has its own airport, handling mainly domestic traffic. The weather was superb when our plane touched down around 20:00hrs after a comfortable flight of 2hrs 15 minutes. I didn't have a window seat but glimpsed a chocolate-coloured Gulfstream biz-jet parked-up as we taxied in. Several Icelandair 757s and Airbuses of Wow Air were on stand at the terminal, as was a Latvian-registered Primera Air 737. Any shots taken would have been into the evening sunshine through glass, so I didn't bother.
Clearing passport control and customs was speedy and hassle-free, as was collecting the rental car, but a word of warning regarding the insurance. Even though I opted for the maximum cover available when I booked with Europcar online, there was still (unsurprisingly) an optional extra - SADW or Sand & Ash Damage Waiver. Car hire, like everything else in Iceland, is expensive enough, so I didn't bother, especially as we were concentrating on exploring the southwest part of the country, but had we been heading for remoter parts where sand and ash storms are more common, I would have seriously considered taking the extra cover. Local websites which could prove useful to anyone renting a vehicle are the Icelandic Road Administration www.road.is for detailed, up to date information on road conditions and en.vendur.is for localised weather forecasts.
Left: This brass sculpture just inside the main doors of the terminal building is a replica of the Leif Eirksson statue which stands in front of Hallgrímskirkja, the main church in Reykjavik. |
Keflavík is a joint civil and military airport often used for delivery flights, with aircraft landing to refuel, or let their crews get some sleep when transiting between North America and Europe. It is the home base of the larger Icelandic airline companies and the main gateway into the country. Icelandair, WOW Air, easyJet, Norwegian and SAS provide year-round services, with many other European carriers and Delta Airlines from the USA adding to the movements during the Summer season.
The airfield is a former US Navy Air Station, originally built during WWII to serve as a stopping-off point for bombers on their way across the Atlantic to carry the fight to Nazi occupied Europe. During the Cold War, Keflavík`s strategically important location was again utilised by the USA and her NATO allies for surveillance and protection against Soviet air and naval forces. Permanent military aircraft presence ended in 2006, when the US Navy officially vacated the base.
On Tuesday 10 May, I had a few hours to pass at Keflavik before the flight home which is when all these shots were taken. First stop was to check-out possible photo locations on the site of the ex US naval base on the east side of the airfield. This service area handles general aviation including delivery flights and most of the military traffic. Today, this locality is referred to as Ásbrú and, in addition to housing, it hosts industrial units and the Keilir educational centre. Also known as the Atlantic Centre of Excellence, the institution was founded in 2007, and consists of four different schools, namely the Aviation Academy, Health Academy, Institute of Technology and Preliminary Studies.
|
On turning off Route 41, the main road between the island's capital city and Keflavik Airport, I discovered that the approach roads leading to some of the aprons were gated quite early which ruled out approaching the fence. I had to settle for distant views of the handful of aircraft parked there, however, I found one good spot where you can easily shoot through the mesh using a wide aperture. Although this location allowed decent views over the immediate service area, there is a significant slope to the airfield resulting in the runways and terminal area being hidden from view in a dip.
|
United States Air Force Fairchild Dornier Do328-100 13097 (N307EF).
|
US Army Beechcraft 300 Super King Air RC-12P Guardrail 92-13120.
|
Above left: Fokker F100 9A-BTD of Trade Air. This passenger and cargo charter outfit is based in Zagreb, Croatia. One of its specialities is the transportation of dangerous goods. Trade Air are due to start operating scheduled flights this month on behalf of Croatia Airlines from Zagreb to Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik and Lisbon. I think the `ES` registered biz jet taking-off is registered in Estonia.
Left: Cessna 750 Citation X N98FG. According to the manufacturer, this long-range medium-sized business jet, powered by two turbofan engines, is currently the fastest civilian aircraft in the world. It has a top speed of 1,127 km/h and a range of 5,956 km. This distant and slightly blurred shot was taken from the departure pier with my bridge camera. Ideally, a Digital SLR with a 500-600mm telephoto lens would be needed to capture biz-jets and small military aircraft on this side of the airfield from the terminal.
Back on the 41, I got a distant side-on of the planes which I hadn't been able to get a decent angle on earlier, and although there was a hard shoulder, I didn't bother stopping, especially as the traffic was quite heavy. |
There is an official rest area, basically a flattened gravel pull-over, beside the main road, less than a kilometre before the turn-off for the terminal and adjacent cargo area but, although it's elevated, this spot is quite far away from the action. Although fine for anyone logging movements, it`s not ideal for photographers as can be seen below, It looked as though walking in either direction would yield better results, dependant on the runway in operation. What I did notice was that, although there was a strong wind blowing, Air Traffic Control would alternate between the runways, seemingly at random, so depending on where you position yourself around the extensive perimeter, landing aircraft could be missed.
Accommodation for the first three nights was in Reykjavik city centre although the 3-star Aurora Star Hotel, which is only 100 metres from Keflavik`s terminal building, may be the preferred option for anyone interested in viewing or photographing the planes, especially if visitors are on a one-night stopover when crossing `the Pond`.
Right: Wholly owned by the Icelandair Group, Bluebird Cargo operates scheduled and chartered cargo services to and from Keflavik and within Europe, with a special focus on Cologne Bonn Airport as a freight hub.
The airline was established in 2000 and started operations in March 2001 with daily freighter services between Iceland, the UK and Germany, initially with a single Boeing 737 freighter but it now has a fleet of six of these aircraft, one of which is pictured here. |
At the terminal, I found the best spot for photography was on the east side of the main building beside the bus park where conveniently, due to ongoing construction work, there was a mound of earth and a temporary stack of metal girders, which enabled me to shoot well over the top of the fence.
Arrivals seem to come in waves and it was actually steady for over an hour in the afternoon with planes landing at 5 to 10 minute intervals, albeit they were mostly Icelandair 757s.
Although Icelandair`s Aurora Borealis Boeing 757 TF-FIU put in an appearance, I couldn`t capture it along with the `Northern Lights` airport bus in the same frame!
An additional, remote area with 13 hardened aircraft shelters lies just south of Runway 11 and is used by NATO, police and Icelandic Coast Guard aircraft. The only plane visible when I took off for Edinburgh though was an unidentified C-130 Hercules.
Early in February 2016, it was reported in the Icelandic media that, according the Stars & Stripes magazine, American troops were set to make a return to the island after a ten-year absence. A hangar on the old military part of the airfield, would supposedly be enlarged and renovated to accommodate a P-8 Poseidon, the successor to the sub-hunting P-3 Orion once stationed at Keflavik, and the necessary support personnel. The unit`s specific role would be attempting to trace and track Russian submarines which have supposedly increased their presence in the region.