What airport is KEF?
Why the code is KEF
KEFlavík, the town it sits in, 30 miles from Reykjavík.
The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.
The airport
- IATA code
- KEF
- ICAO code
- BIKF
- Airport
- Keflavík International Airport
- City
- Reykjavík, Iceland
- Code origin
- Documented
Keflavík was built by the US military during the war and remained a NATO base until 2006. Its position mid-Atlantic made Icelandair's free-stopover model possible: almost any Europe-to-North-America routing can be broken here at no extra fare.
Codes people book by mistake
| Code | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| RKV | Reykjavík city airport, used for domestic and Greenland flights. Not where international flights land. |
The other code, BIKF
Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, KEF, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, BIKF, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why BIKF looks nothing like KEF.
Common questions
- What airport is KEF?
- Keflavík International Airport, in Reykjavík, Iceland.
- Why is Reykjavík's airport called KEF?
- KEFlavík, the town it sits in, 30 miles from Reykjavík.
- What is the difference between KEF and BIKF?
- KEF is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. BIKF is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.
- Is KEF the same as RKV?
- No. RKV is reykjavík city airport, used for domestic and Greenland flights. Not where international flights land.
Related pages
- Iceland Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of Iceland Colours, symbols and lookalikes
- Airport codes in Iceland 1 here
Sources
- OurAirports — OurAirports (Public domain)