2.6 million visitors during the peak summer season

A total of 2.6 million passengers travelled through Keflavík Airport (KEF) during the peak summer months of June, July and August, representing an 8.8% decrease compared with the same period last year.

At the height of the summer season, 26 airlines operated flights to 76 destinations. As in previous years, the most popular destinations were Copenhagen, New York and London. The airport saw its busiest day on 26 July, when 31,738 passengers travelled through KEF.

Around 830,000 foreign travellers departed Iceland through Keflavík Airport during the three-month period, a decrease of approximately 2% compared with the same period last year, according to figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board.

Just under 187,000 Icelandic residents travelled abroad during the peak summer months, representing a decrease of approximately 5.6% from the previous year.

Americans were by far the largest group of foreign travellers departing Iceland in June, July and August, with a total of 286,000 departures. This accounted for approximately 34.5% of all departures by foreign travellers. Interestingly, almost exactly the same number of Americans travelled through the airport during the same period last year.

Germans were the second-largest group of foreign travellers during the period, with around 66,000 departures, followed by Canadians, at just over 56,000, and British travellers, at just over 51,000.

Looking at the first eight months of the year, approximately 1.56 million foreign passengers have departed Iceland. This is broadly in line with the same period last year, with departures by foreign passengers down by 1.0%.

During the same period, Icelandic residents made approximately 435,000 trips abroad, representing a 10.4% decrease compared with the same period last year.