Tourists Return to Iceland as Airport Testing Plan Launched
Tourists Return to Iceland as Airport Testing Plan Launched
(Bloomberg) -- Foreigners returned to Iceland on Monday after a hiatus imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak, in a welcome sign for an island nation whose economy is reliant on tourism.
Two planes carrying approximately 180 passengers from London and Copenhagen landed at Keflavik airport in the morning, with as many as 650 expected by the end of the day. That’s half as many tourists as had arrived during the whole month of April and about a third of total May arrivals.
The visitors received free coronavirus tests directly upon arrival, the first day such a program was put into place.
“We are very pleased with how well it has gone so far,” Jonlaug Heimisdottir, the health official who is overseeing the program, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. Some 100 tests were completed within 40 minutes, she said.
Icelandair, Transavia, Wizz Air, SAS, Czech Airlines, Atlantic Airways and Air Baltic all have scheduled flights to Reykjavik from a total of 33 destinations.
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