Keflavík Airport handles 662,783 passengers in October, down 1.1%, as Chinese visitors rise

Keflavík Airport, Iceland's main international gateway, handled 662,783 passengers in October 2026, 1.1% fewer than in October 2025, the airport said on 11 November. Twenty-five airlines flew direct to 71 destinations during the month, and the busiest day was Sunday 4 October, with 25,363 passengers. Copenhagen, London and New York were the most popular destinations.

Figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board quoted by the airport show about 203,000 foreign departures, 0.9% more than a year earlier. US citizens remained the largest group, at about 48,000 or 23.9% of the total, but their number fell 10.3%. Chinese and British travellers each accounted for about 21,500 departures, or 10.6%; Chinese departures rose 44.8% while British departures fell 6.7%. Germany, Poland, Italy, Canada, France, Taiwan and Spain completed the top ten nationalities, which together made up 71.2% of foreign departures.

Icelanders travelled abroad in greater numbers in October, with nearly 63,000 departures, up 14.4%. Over the first ten months of the year, however, Icelandic departures were down 7.2% at about 556,000, and foreign departures were down 0.5% at about two million.

The airport's figures do not break down transfer passengers or arrivals, and the release does not explain the reasons behind the shifts by nationality.