Iceland travel association weighs sending some low-fare airlines to Akureyri instead of Keflavik

Grímur Sæmundsson, chairman of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association, suggests all low-fare airlines that only offer commercial flights to Iceland over the summer, should land in Akureyri, North Iceland instead of Keflavik International Airport. In such a scenario, Keflavik would only serve airlines that fly to Iceland all year around.

Sæmundsson made the suggestion at a meeting of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association on Thursday. The aim is to react to the increase of tourists visiting Iceland by spreading them further around the country. He says some reaction is necessary, there needs to be some sort of control.

The solution,Sæmundsson said, isn’t to raise taxes or any other pressure in the tourism industry. There isn’t a direct correlation between the rise in tourism and the profit of it, as it depends on the currency.

Instead, Sæmundsson argued, the best solution is to better organise and control of access.