Keflavikairport Avis 

**Keflavík International Airport — Not Recommended**

I flew through Keflavík on 16 August 2026, and the experience was frustrating from the start. The departures area was chaotic, with a line snaking through the terminal and no clear signage showing where to go. I had to push through crowds just to find the Icelandair business line, which was itself poorly signposted — staff seemed more interested in chatting among themselves than helping passengers, and it was only thanks to a fellow traveller pointing me in the right direction that I found it at all. I then had to rush to get through security, and was grateful to have fast track, without which I likely would have missed my flight.

The signage throughout the airport is genuinely poor — Keflavík could learn a lot from airports like Madrid Barajas or Heathrow, where wayfinding is far clearer and more intuitive.

The Icelandair Saga Lounge was similarly disappointing: dingy, dark, with weak food offerings and dirty, poorly maintained toilets. I left after about ten minutes rather than stay any longer.

At the gate (D24), things didn't improve — it was overcrowded with minimal seating, and boarding involved being bussed out to the aircraft, which made for an undignified scrum rather than an orderly process.

Overall, Keflavík feels like an airport that struggles to cope with its volume of transatlantic and European traffic. I wouldn't choose to fly through it again if I had another option.

During my visit to Iceland I had made some purchases that qualified for a tax refund. Upon arriving to Keflavik Airport I went to the Tax Refund Office to claim my refund before flying out.

Behind the counter was a male staff member. He took the receipts and put them on top of a pile of receipts on a table next to the counter. He, however, refused to issue any kind of confirmation of receipt for them. He offered no explanation whatsoever for this and was just being very dismissive.

Feeling slightly uneasy with the situation, I returned to the counter in less than a minute and asked politely if I could take a photo of the receipts that I had just handed over. The male staff member looked briefly in the pile of receipts (where he had literally just put my receipts) and then claimed that they didn’t have my receipts anymore. He was literally laughing in my face.

I am now left with no evidence of my purchases or of the fact that the receipts for them have been handed over to the Tax Refund Office at Keflavik Airport. I will most likely never receive the (substantial) refund I am owed. Till this day I haven’t. TRAVELLERS TO ICELAND BEWARE! Don’t count on the tax refund promised to you as the system seems to be operated by heavily unprofessional people.

Last but not least, the blatantly disrespectful attitude of this staff member towards me was of the kind, one might have expect in other parts of the world as a woman, but certainly not in a Nordic country – except, apparently, in Iceland. What a disgrace.

We found the airport to large having to walk miles to reclaim our bags, took us an hour to get out! On the way back it stated a 15-20 min walk to our gate! Then when we get there hardly any seats to sit on. Having to go through passport control on the way out seemed strange, with them taking your fingerprints.
It is clean but not very gluten free friendly.

A really bad airport. Very expensive. The duty free is not good at all.

Worst airport in the world. Hours and hours delayed, poor customer service. No organization

We arrived three hours before our flight, already having our bags checked in from the night before. We get there and the self-check in for bags doesn't work at any of them. Then we try the lines of machines, where you can either check in manually or get your boarding passes, like we had to do. None works. Then we go through five staffs! FIVE. And no one can help us, as each of them tells different directions. So now we're at an enormous queue, to get our bags checked when the last staff finally could guide us in the right direction.

The airport is too packed and too small for all of these people. There are no signs to guide people throughout and the staff is to no help, as much as they want to.

I hope this airport in the future get renovated to a more innovative and interactive airport where people can get the right help they need. I would have assumed so with this being in Iceland.

0/5 stars from me.

What happened to this fantastic airport with great shopping, food and best coffee ( kaffitar) ever. Now there are bloody hotdog stands, chain restaurants, not a dissent cup of coffee at sight. Self service, no service at all!
Use to be my favorite airport, spent plenty times there.

I have been traveling to Iceland for years and have spent lots of money there. In the past you could submit your receipts and the required documents in an envelope to try and get back the tax money paid. This morning, 8 December 2024 around 9:45 am at the Keflivak Airport, the woman working at the Tax Free Duty Office refused to give me the envelope that you can mail in receipts or put in their box. She was rude and looked at me as though she never seen a foreigner in her life...so disrespectful. I love Iceland but it has become so commercialized and overrun with tourists and employees with attitudes. Most are not Icelandic. The bottomline is Duty Free has become a gimic. Unprofessional.

Our flight home from Keflavik to stanstead has been cancelled (07.01.24) we received zero information just flashed up on the board (after we checked our luggage in) that check in was delayed now until tomorrow - told that we would just have to wait until tomorrow (Monday) for a flight and to go reclaim our luggage - THEYVE LOST OUR LUGGAGE!
They’ve cancelled our flight and lost our luggage including medication etc we were given little assistance just - email this team in an hour to try and find luggage etc
I love Iceland however I won’t come back for another visit now …

Ved ankomsten var infoskranken i ankomsthallen ubemandet (og det fik jeg senere oplyst, at den næsten altid er). Vi havde stort besvær med at finde servicedisken til vores Lejebil - og dem vi spurgte, svarede typisk "I really don't know"!
Ved afgang tog indtjekning ekstrem lang tid. Den første halve time vi stod der blev kun 1 familie tjekket ind trods 4 skranker og i alt 7 personer bag skrankerne. Det hele gik i stå igen lidt senere da en familie skulle betale for en ekstra kuffert - hele personalet var involveret og stoppede indtjekning i alle skranker inden de endelig fandt en betalingsterminal, så der kunne betales. Der er ingen Priority Pass Lounge i Lufthavnen - eller en Lounge man kan komme ind i mod betaling :(

Hopeless - be ready to queue up for houses and hours - check in, security and restaurants…

Upon arrival to Keflavik from US our baby stroller which was checked in at the airplane entrance came out dismembered. Needless to say it was in tact upon departure from US. The employee with heavy smell of alcohol brought the stroller out and rudely dismissed any responsibility for its handling. He refused to check if missing parts are somewhere within the service area.
This is not the first time that our strollers come out damaged when handled by airport crew. Moreover, every time we receive our luggage in Keflavik it comes wet and dirty.
Airport management refused to take any responsibility for the incident.