Challenging Airports - Akureyri (BIAR)

On this instalment of the Challenging Airports series, having wound our way around the globe, two years later we find ourselves revisiting Iceland.

The offset localiser approach to RWY 01 descends through a valley offset nearly 30° from the runway.

Back in late 2017 (PC Pilot 112) we studied the stunning airport in Ísafjörður (BIIS) with its tight circling approach within the confines of a fjord. Further east by 145 statute miles, on the northern coast of Iceland, is another airfield, Akureyri, nestled into the southern terminus of the 35-mile long Eyjafjörður fjord. With a population of nearly 19,000, Akureyri is Iceland’s fifth-largest municipality, and as such, requires reliable air service. As one might expect given Iceland’s unusual topography and location, interesting weather and geography combine to make operating to and from this near-Arctic airport a bit of a challenge.

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