Keflavík International Airport
Encyclopedia
Cargo airlines
Ground transport
Transport between the airport and Reykjavik city is by road only. The distance is 50 km. A new fast freeway (dual carriageway road) was opened 2008. The buses have a timetable adapted to the flight schedule. They go to and from the Reykjavik bus terminal, taking around 45 minutes. To get to the domestic airport a bus change is needed at the bus terminal.Controversy
The presence of foreign military forces in Iceland under the NATO sponsored Iceland–U.S. Defense Agreement of 1951 was a controversial issue in Iceland which had no indigenous military forces. During the 1960s and 1970s, rallies were held to protest the U.S. military presence in Iceland (and in particular at Keflavík) and every year protesters walked the 50 km (31.1 mi) road from Reykjavík to Keflavík and chanted "Ísland úr NATO, herinn burt" (literally: Iceland out of NATO, the military away). One of the participants was Vigdís FinnbogadóttirVigdís Finnbogadóttir
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth President of Iceland from 1980 to 1996. In addition to being both Iceland's and Europe's first female president, she was the world's first democratically elected female head of state...
, who later became the first female President of Iceland
President of Iceland
The President of Iceland is Iceland's elected head of state. The president is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage and has limited powers. The president is not the head of government; the Prime Minister of Iceland is the head of government. There have been five presidents since...
.