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October 7, 2018Keflavik Intl. Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on November 20, 2023
Keflavík International Airport (KEF/BIKF) is the biggest airport in Iceland. It handled 7,2 million passengers in 2019. The airport is located 50 kms away from Reykjavik in the very south east of the island next to the village of Reykjanesbær. From the capital it can be reached via road 41. Several bus lines also serve the connection between Reykjavik and the terminal. Car rental is available directly at the airport and is the best option for spotters.
As WOW Air went bankrupt, the traffic is dominated by Icelandair. Their busy time is around 6 am for the North American arrivals. These planes leave for Europe around 8 a.m. and return between 3-4 pm and by 6 pm, after they leave for North America, the airport basically shuts down. The successor of WOW Air, Play, started operations in 2021 to various destinations in Europe, using Airbus A321 aircraft.
The airport is also seasonally served by all major European Airlines like Lufthansa, British Airways, SAS or Finnair as well as by Air Canada, Delta and United from North America. Several charter and low-cost carriers are present during the summer season as well, e.g. Easyjet, Eurowings, Norwegian, TUI or Wizz Air. Few cargo services are operated by Icelandair Cargo and Bluebird are visible as well.
Keflavik was originally built as a military base by US Air Force. After the USAF left, KEF is still used by NATO forces so regular military movements can be seen as well as other special traffic using KEF for a fuel stop.
Written by Marcus, Severin Hackenberger, Ola Carlsson and Konstantin von Wedelstaedt (spot 6). Updated: October 2021
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety | |
| Photo Locations |  |
| Weather |  |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 01/19 | 3054m × 60m Asphalt |
| 10/28 | 3065m × 60m Asphalt |
| Terminals | One handling all flights |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not necessary. |
| Car/Public Transport | Absolutely needed for all spots, which are away from the terminal. Keep in mind that offroad driving is not allowed in Iceland (and heavily fined btw) as nature is very fragile there and it takes years to recover from damage |
| Restrooms | Can be found in the restaurants in Reykjanesbær and in the terminal. The area around the airport consists of lava, so there are no trees or bushes… |
| Drinks/Food | Inside the terminal or at the restaurants and supermarkets around. |
| Hotels | Around the airport are some expensive hotels. Some Bed & Breakfast or guesthouses offer more reasonable prices. |
| Season | Winters are very cold with wind, rain and snow, best time to visit is from June to August. But even in summer the weather can be ugly and might change rapidly. In June spotting with daylight is possible from 4:00 till 23:00, while in December daylight is only available for a few hours between 12:00 and 15:00. In winter the schedule can be quiet as most of the seasonal flights only operate between June and September. |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | The runway usage is strongly dependent on the always strong blowing winds. So mainly only one runway is in use for both, take-off and landing. At easy winds runway usage seems to be very random and there is not really a logical system behind it.KEF likes to bring Europe inbounds onto 01 and America outbounds on 28 then, but this doesn’t has to be safe all time. They’re changing a lot – using all 4 directions for arrivals during a day isn’t unique here! |
| 10/28 | Used for take-offs and landings in both directions. |
| 01/19 | Used for take-offs and landings in both directions. |
Picnic Area - 19 and 28 arrivals, 01 and 10 departures
| WHERE | This spot is just by the roadside of Road 41 Reykjanesbraut. It is an official picnic area, where you can easily park your car. You can stay here or move a little bit in the lava fields to get a better angle. |
| WHAT | Landings on runway 19 and 28. Also take-offs on runway 01 and 10 should be possible. |
| TIME | In June: Landings on 19 and take offs on 01 from 4:00 till 12:00, Landings on 28 and take offs on 10 from 4:00 till 6:00 and from 20:00 till 23:00. |
| MISC. | Take with you whatever you need. There is nothing around. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 400-500mm |
Flugbraut - 28 arrivals, 10 departures
| WHERE | Drive further from spot 1 and turn right at the 2nd roundabout into Flugbraut. Turn right at next junction and park your car on the asphalt area. You can stay here or move into the lava fields. |
| WHAT | Landings on runway 28 and take-offs on runway 10. |
| TIME | Between 10:00 and 17:00 in summer |
| MISC. | Take with you whatever you need. There is nothing around. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200-400mm from the parking bay; if you walk onto the “field” infront, less mm are okay as well |
Hangar Lane - 10 departures, apron
| WHERE | Move further from spot 2. Pass the abandoned guard house and turn right after you passed the water tower. At the end of the road an abandoned parking lot should be your place to be. Furthermore you can access all aprons next to the fence where they seems to frequently park bizzjets. Fence is pretty high and narrow mesh so best bring a ladder or steps or use liveview on your camera while holding it above the fence. Next to the red/white old watertower there are some cisterns with steps on which I found being quite useful as well. |
| WHAT | Best for ground photos on the nearby apron and take-offs on runway 10. |
| TIME | Between 10:00 and 17:00 in summer |
| MISC. | The aircraft are not visible on the runway and can be seen only few seconds before you can take a picture. An ATC receiver might be helpful. Otherwise you have to be quick… |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 250 – 400mm for arrivals |
Aprongate - 01 movements, apron
| WHERE | This spot is located along the fence next to an aprongate and can be reached from “Flugbraut” street easily. Just park your car in one of the many parking spaces on the nearby parking areas and search your favourite position along the fence. You might also climb one the electrical boxes along the fence to be able to shoot over this – these boyes are far enough away from the fence that it’s okay there and mostly tolerated. We never had problems while using them, but you can also do spotting through the fence directly without ladder, box or similar. |
| WHAT | All activities on runway 01 as well as the aircraft on the ramp next to the spot here. |
| TIME | Runway: From early morning till midday. Apron: From later morning till late midday. |
| MISC. | Take what you need as there are no shops nearby. The runway is a bit farer that’s why you might have heat haze there on warmer days, but won’t be a problem probably. Don’t stay too long at the fence for taking ramp shots as Isavia cars are regularly passing by and asked spotters to leave this spot already in a kind way. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 24-400mm Runway: 180-400mm -> B753 = 220mm /// Apron: 24-200mm -> MC12/B350 = 145mm |
Red-marked area is good for runwayshots – for apron shots search a position somewhere along the fence on the right:
Bogatröð - 01 movements
| WHERE | From road 41 turn into road 44 direction Hafnir. When driving road 44 heading for intersection with road 45, just before passing the centerline rwy 01, there is a monument with two piles of stone. Turn right before them and use the eastern (right) of the two roads heading north. Drive all the way up till the perimeter fence and park on the shoulder. If you see signs for 45 direction Hvalsnes, you have driven too far and need to turn around. |
| WHAT | Arrivals and line up on runway 01. The runway is on a higher level so you can photograph over the fence. |
| TIME | From 4:00 till 12:00 in summer for arrivals. |
| MISC. | Take what you need. The distance for the line-ups is very high and heat may becomes an issue. We did not really test it. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 250mm for A321 arrival. Lineup sample was taken with 600mm |
Road 45 - 01 arrivals
| WHERE | From road 41 turn into road 44 direction Hafnir. Follow this road until you reach a junction with road 45 direction Hvalsnes. Drive up there for a kilometer and park your car on the shoulder. Generally you can stay everywhere around this area. Just find your prefered position. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on RWY01 only. Line-Ups can be seen as well, but very far away and almost unspotable. |
| TIME | From late noon till sunset in summer. |
| MISC. | You are far away from all civilization. Take food and water with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200-400mm B753 = 220mm / Dash 8 (300er series) = ~350mm |
Gravel Road - Arrivals 10 - 10 arrivals and 28 departures
| WHERE | From road 41 turn into road 44 direction Hafnir. Follow this road until you reach a junction with road 45 direction Hvalsnes. Head on for 7 kms until you reach a gravel road to the right. Park your car here and take some pictures with your longest lense. Or you can walk this gravel road for approximate 2 kilometers (don’t drive, it is forbidden) to get closer to the action. If starting at the airport drive to Sandgerði on the 421 and from there down on the 45 to the location. |
| WHAT | Landings on runway 10. Takeoffs on 28 might be possible as well. |
| TIME | From 10:00 till 17:00 in summer |
| MISC. | You are far away from all civilization. Take food and water with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 800mm from the road, less mm if you walk the gravel track. |
Stafnes Light House - 10 arrivals
| WHERE | This is an altnernative to #5 if you don´t wanna walk that much. Use the same direction but continue on 45 just before a small village with a lighthouse (Stafnes). You can´t park at the main road so drive till the junction to the light house and park there at the shoulder and walk back till you find your preferd angle for photography. If starting at the airport drive to Sandgerði on the 421 and from there down on the 45 to the Stafnes. The angle is a bit worser here than at #5 and from this distance you have almost full frame on an A330 with 300mm when aircraft is about 4km from threshold. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on RWY10 only. |
| TIME | From 10:00 till 17:00 in summer |
| MISC. | You are far away from all civilization. Take food and water with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | at least 300-400mm for A330 |
Terminal Airside - Apron
| WHERE | After security the terminal offers some windows in each direction. Place yourself at the right window depending on the sun and the traffic you wanna spot. |
| WHAT | Aircrafts on the apron and at the gates. You might also be able to spot aircraft on runway 09/27. |
| TIME | Depends on the angle but generally all day as you can switch sides very easily and quickly. |
| MISC. | Some restaurants in the terminal. Schengen gates are on 2nd floor, so it’s easier to get good pictures. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50mm – 200mm B757 night shot = 70mm |
Unnamed road - 19 arrivals, apron
| WHERE | This spot is located in an unnamed road, which can be reached from the airport driveway. If you’re coming on highway 41 into airport direction, pass the runway approach lights and then exit the street on the left into an unnamed road. Now you can decide how far you’ll dirve in here:
1. From its begining you already have a good view onto arrivals and won’t have any security problems. 2. If you drive all way down till the road’s end you’ll be lead to a gate, whose guards sometimes sent you away directly and sometimes let you take pictures there. The angle will be better there as well as the distance and you can also see the apron. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on RWY19 – if you drive this road till its end in the south and don’t get send away you can also take some apron shots (night shots are the best option there as you won’t have backlit then). |
| TIME | From late midday till late evening. |
| MISC. | Nearest facilities are inside the terminal or Keflavik itsself such as gas station or supermarkets. Directly at the spot is nothing. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200-400mm A319 = 280mm |
Recent spotting report. We were in Iceland in mid-September 2021. We booked at room at the ABC Hotel in Keflavik for two nights; at the time I didn’t know it was a converted dorm at the ex-US Air Base and was very close to the south apron area. Great place to access many of the spotting areas. The weather was horrendous – 90% of the time it was horizontal rain and very high winds. The first day aircraft were landing on 28 so I went to Spot 1, the picnic area. Not a bad area and I’ll submit some photos from there later. On the 2nd day I spent most of the time at Spot 2. I liked this spot much better since you are closer to the landing aircraft. Spot 2 is also close to Hanger Lane so I caught some biz jets and big birds. Air traffic is unusual; Icelandair is the major player. Their busy time is around 6 am for the North American arrivals. These planes leave for Europe around 8 a.m. and return between 3-4 pm and by 6 pm, after they leave for North America, the airport basically shuts down. Outside these busy times there is a lot of nothing … however you get lucky. The US Air Force and Navy had several planes stop over – ASW Poseidons, a C-17, and some KC-135s. The USAF deployed 3 B-2s recently but I’m not sure they are still there. The US planes did not appear on FR24 schedules but I found them on the map. I had to check FR24 almost hourly for new additions – such as an AN-124 and an IL-76 that landed, fueled up, and left. There were some liveries I had not seen before – Play, Wizz, Neos, Air Greenland, and Bluebird. I drove along the fence line several times during the day and was never hassled. I don’t think I would make a special trip to Iceland to spot here, but if you are in the area it is definitely an interesting experience.
Thanks for the feedback Frank. Looks like you got some nice traffic anyway besides the Icelandair stuff.
-Julian
Hello Frank
Looking at Google Earth it looks like a fence has been erected where all the business jets park up and delivery flights.I normally stay at The Start Hostel and the apron opposite this accommodation is the area I am talking about.
Can you confirm this please…..
Regards
Chris
Chris – yes, there is a chain link fence in the area. I think I was able to shoot through the fence and openings in the gates. The Start Hostel was very close to where we stayed.
Hi folks,
from my investigations, the runway designators have changed with AIRAC 1909 (I am unable to get the document itself, however, Wikipedia [de] provides this hint in the change history: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flughafen_Keflav%C3%ADk&diff=191846159&oldid=189320753).
The current aerodrome chart indicates 01/19 and 10/28 rather than 02/20 and 11/29: https://eaip.isavia.is/AMDT_003-21_2021_06_18/documents/Root_WePub/Rep_ISAVIA/Charts/AD/BIKF/PART_2/BIKF_2_Aerodrome_Chart.pdf
Furthermore, I would be grateful, if you add a hint for those who do not know, that offroad driving is not allowed in Iceland (and heavily fined btw) as nature is very fragile there and it takes years to recover from damage. I’ve already seen bad examples ;(
Kind regards,
Tobi aka flederwiesel
Thanks for the Update Tobi (and your wonderful website too!) 🙂
-Julian
Thank you for this guide, need this for my trip to Iceland once corona is over.
I am Iceland spotter. I know many intresting places. You can write to me if you want. http://www.marekcichocki.pl
Ertu íslenskur? Það væri æðislegt ef við gætum farið saman einhvern tímann! Bý í Keflavíkinni
For afternoon arrivals on 02, you can head up on road 45 (turn north from 44) – at least that was the case some years ago.
Photo example: https://www.airliners.net/photo/Icelandair/Boeing-757-256/1251899
hey,
i have been spotting one month ago there
i didn’t had a guide so i found my own place which is missing here. i would recommend it when you don’t have a car. Dropped Pin
near Southern Peninsula Region, Iceland
https://goo.gl/maps/wBCdmvhbCSF2
fun fact: when I was spotting there were winds up to 50 mph or 80kmh. So i couldn’t use a stativ because it would have fallen over ever time
Hi Marcel, can you send us some photos from this location please.
-Julian
I am Iceland spotter. You can find many photos on my website.
http://www.marekcichocki.pl
Awesome guide! Will be heading over in march 2019 will get to get some good shots and perhaps add additional information here about the spots!
Hi,
one of our teammembers will visit KEF in March next year as well 😉
Hope the guide will be helpful and we will hear from you soon. 🙂
Regards
-Severin
I can help you to if you want. I am Iceland spotter. I’m living here.
HI All
Does anyone have the serial of the USN P8 that came up from Sigonella
yesterday 5/3/20 thanks a lot
Keith
Thank you for your email . I am amatour so my photos is not so perfect and I am not interesting taking a perfect pictures…you know what I mean? I’m intresting about to show something more..airplanes and background …this is amazing. I am an artist. 🙂
About the map. Many intresting spotting location is missing. I know more. Airport is still under construction. I can provide you all information.
I have a car. Iceland is very an expensive country. Specialty if you want rent a car. If do not want to rent I can help you with it. Of Crouse not for free. This will be much much less cheaper prise than if you want to rent a car!!! With some sighting (waterfalls, hotspots, ) to. Feel free to ask about anything. If you are not intresting I can show you for short trip around the airport all spotting locations for free of Crouse. Just let me know.
Nice guide!!! I’ve been waiting for this 😀