Vágar Airport
Vágar Airport Vága Floghavn | |||||||||||
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AMSL 280 ft / 85 m | | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 62°03′49″N 007°16′38″W / 62.06361°N 7.27722°W | ||||||||||
| Website | fae.fo | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  EKVG Location in the Faroe Islands | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
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Vágar Airport (Faroese: Vága Floghavn) (IATA: FAE, ICAO: EKVG) is the only airport in the Faroe Islands, and is located 1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) east[1] of the village of Sørvágur, on the island of Vágar and 46 km (29 miles) west of the capital Tórshavn. Due to the Faroe Islands' status as a self-governing territory, the airport is not subject to the rules of the European Union. It is the main operating base for Faroese national airline Atlantic Airways and, for a brief period during 2006, was also the base for the low-cost airline FaroeJet.
History
Early years
The airport was built by British Army
After the war, Vágar airfield was abandoned and left unused until 1963, when it was reopened as a civilian airport at the initiative of two Sørvágur residents, Hugo Fjørðoy and Lars Larsen. The two worked with the Icelandic airline
Development since the 2000s
Until 2002 travel from the airport to most locations in the Faroe Islands including the capital Tórshavn required a car ferry, but since the Vágatunnilin, a tolled road tunnel, was opened in 2002, travel has been made much easier by giving direct road access to the neighbouring island of Streymoy, where Tórshavn is located.
The runway was extended from 1,250 m (4,100 ft) to 1,799 m (5,902 ft) in 2011, allowing a greater variety of aircraft types to be used, and further-away destinations to be introduced.
In March 2016,
Management
The airport is currently managed by the
Airlines and destinations
The airlines in the table below offer regular passenger scheduled and seasonal flights at Vágar Airport.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Oslo, Reykjavík–Keflavík
Seasonal: Aalborg,[18] Barcelona,[19] Edinburgh, Gran Canaria,[18] London–Gatwick (begins 1 June 2024),[20][21] Newburgh,[22] Palma de Mallorca,[19] Paris–Charles de Gaulle[19] | |
| Atlantic Airways Helicopter | Dímun, Froðba, Hattarvík, Kirkja, Klaksvík, Koltur, Mykines, Skúvoy, Svínoy, Tórshavn |
| Icelandair | Seasonal: Reykjavík–Keflavík (begins 1 May 2024)[23] |
| Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen |
| Bergen[24]
|
There are occasional public charter flights operated by major European airlines, e.g. Wizzair and Austrian Airlines, for example for supporters to football qualification matches.[25][26] There are also fairly frequent corporate charter flights (seats not available to public) done by e.g. Widerøe.[27] The extended runway and better instrument landing system has made it easier for airlines other than Atlantic Airways to land at Vágar.
Ground transport
There are bus services about 10 times each direction per day between the airport and Tórshavn. They take one hour. The road distance to Tórshavn is 47 km (29 mi). The "Vágatunnilin" tunnel (4.9 km (3.0 mi)) connects the airport and the Vágar island to the main towns and villages in the Faroe Islands.
Statistics
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Accidents and incidents
- 26 September 1970: a crashed in bad weather on Mykines. The captain and 7 passengers, all seated on the left side of the plane, were killed. 26 passengers and crew survived, some with serious injuries. Three passengers hiked for an hour to reach Mykines village to alert the authorities. Most of the villagers went up the mountain to aid the survivors before the arrival of the Danish patrol vessel F348 Hvidbjørnen.[28][29]A marble memorial was placed in the church.
- 25 January 1975: a Fokker F27 aircraft from Maersk Air registered as OY-APB attempted to land on a wet and icy runway. Without having been informed of the conditions, the pilots veered the aircraft off the runway and collided with terrain.[30][31]
- 6 July 1987: a Partenavia P.68 aircraft registered as G-SPOT, operated by Octavia Air, crashed on approach to Vágar Airport in poor weather conditions and limited visibility. The aircraft struck a rocky face (150 metres; 500' high) located 15 km (10 miles) southwest from the airport. All three occupants were killed.[32]
- 3 August 1996: a final approach to Vágar Airport in bad weather and poor visibility. Extreme atmospheric turbulences caused the pilots to lose control; the aircraft suddenly rolled 180 degrees and crashed on the slope of a mountain located 2 km (1¼ miles) short of runway (near Selvík stream, west of Sørvágur 62°04′15.4″N 7°21′03.6″W / 62.070944°N 7.351000°W). Nine people, including the Danish Chief of Defence Jørgen Gardeand his wife, perished as the aircraft collided with high terrain surrounding the airport.
See also
- List of airports in the Faroe Islands
- List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries
References
- ^ a b Faroe Islands AIP for EKVG – Vágar Airport from Naviair
- ^ "STATISTIC". fae.fo. Vága Floghavn. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Faroe Airways - Gyldendal - Den Store Danske". 20 February 2014.
- ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, April 1, 1971 Icelandair system timetable
- ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, May 30, 1988 Atlantic Airways system timetable
- ^ a b http://www.airliners.net, photo of Maersk Air Boeing 737-500 at Vagar Airport
- ^ October 1993 Official Airline Guide (OAG) Worldwide edition, Faroe Islands flight schedules
- ^ "A 1.799 m. long runway and terminal for a total of DKK. 412". October 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Celebrating the extended runway". Archived from the original on 24 May 2012.
- ^ Atlantic Airways A319 enters service Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 28 March 2012
- ^ "News - FAE - Vága Floghavn". Archived from the original on 20 February 2015.
- ^ "Stormomsust atlanterhavsø lokker endnu et flyselskab til". Politiken. 11 October 2016.
- ^ "SAS får endelig godkendelse til at flyve til Færøerne i tåge". Politiken. 20 December 2018.
- ^ Shepherd, Lesley (30 March 2012). "Atlantic Airways Airbus A319 First in Europe to Use RNP". www.atc-network.com.
- ^ "Port Authority Celebrated the Arrival of First Nonstop U.S. Flight from Faroe Islands to New York Stewart International Airport" (Press release). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ^ "L 210: Nedbringelse af fondens egenkapital til dækning af omkostninger til bortskaffelse af sprængstof ved Vágar Lufthavn". Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Statens Luftfartsvæsen: Færøerne overtager Vagar Lufthavn". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
- ^ a b https://www.atlanticairways.com/da/website [dead link]
- ^ a b c "Atlantic Airways announces scheduled flights to 10 destinations for 2022 - Aviation24.be". 20 October 2021.
- ^ "Atlantic Airways apre i voli tra Londra Gatwick e Faroe/Vagar". 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Atlantic Airways Is London Gatwick Airport's 14th Airline Addition Since 2022". 9 October 2023.
- ^ "ATLANTIC AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES NEW YORK SERVICE FROM FAROE ISLANDS". 29 March 2023.
- ^ "Icelandair flýgur til Færeyja".
- ^ Om Widerøe [dead link]
- ^ "Records being broken on the Faroe Islands". Vága Floghavn.
- ^ "Continued growth at Faroe Islands airport (2)". Vága Floghavn.
- ^ Tiirikainen, Morten Lund (30 June 2014). "Næppe udsigt til konkurrence på Færøerne".
- ^ "Sex Íslendingar meðal 34 um borð". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 27 September 1970. p. 1. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Átta létust í flugslysinu í Færeyjum". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 29 September 1970. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ Ellemose: 57
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ "All Denmark | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
External links
Media related to Vágar Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Current weather for EKVG at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for FAE at Aviation Safety Network