Loading
  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Þórshöfn Airport

Þórshöfn Airport (Icelandic: Þórshafnarflugvöllur [ˈθour̥sˌhapnarˌflʏɣˌvœtlʏr̥]) (IATA: THO, ICAO: BITN) is an airport located in Þórshöfn, a village in northeast Iceland. It is also referred to as Thorshofn Airport in many English-language sources.

Overview

Þórshöfn Airport was previously located about 4.8 km to the northeast, at 66°15′07″N 15°16′23″W / 66.25194°N 15.27306°W / 66.25194; -15.27306 (Former location of Þórshöfn Airport (ICAO:BITH)), near Sauðanes, and had the ICAO code BITH (but the same IATA code – THO). It had a slightly shorter runway with a gravel surface, which has since been closed. The airport has a very small terminal building of around 12×9 meters (39×29 ft). Domestic airports do not need security checks in Iceland, and the 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft used does not need large terminals.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Norlandair Akureyri, Vopnafjörður

Statistics

Passengers and movements

Number of
passengers
Number of
movements
2015 502 428
2016 441 452
2017 1,079 458
2018 870 468
2019 835 489
2020 467 392
2021 964 532

Accidents and incidents

The wreck of the DC-3 is nowadays used as a sheep and horse shelter on private land

In July 1969, Douglas R4D-6 Bu 150187 of the United States Navy was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Þórshöfn Airport. Pilot Russell W. Sims Jr, Executive Officer of NAS Keflavik, was flying in supplies and mail when cross winds, unimproved runway surface coupled with what the investigative report stated was pilot error was not able to keep control of the plane upon landing, going off the runway surface and destroying the landing gear. Another source states that the aircraft swung off the runway during takeoff.