Unions in Westfjords warn flight cuts threaten air links to Ísafjörður and Bíldudalur

The council of the Westfjords Trade Union (Verkalýðsfélag Vestfirðinga) has issued a resolution expressing strong concern about announced changes to the ‘Loftbrú’ flight connections serving the region, saying they could harm healthcare access and prompt residents to abandon local air service, according to a report in Bæjarins besta.

The union’s resolution warns that the changes to the flight schedules will have particularly negative effects on healthcare services in the Westfjords, a remote and mountainous peninsula in north-west Iceland. The resolution calls on the government to cancel the proposed alterations to the air services.

Bæjarins besta reported the resolution included the passage: “Repeated cuts in air transport of the kind that residents…” The resolution’s full text was not published.

Finnbogi Sveinbjörnsson, chairman of the Westfjords Trade Union, told mbl.is that he is concerned continued reductions in scheduled flights to Ísafjörður and Bíldudalur could erode locals’ reliance on air service and ultimately cause its collapse. He criticised the changes to the Loftbrú arrangements and called for action to prevent them.

Background on affected routes and communities

Ísafjörður is the largest town in the Westfjords and serves as the administrative centre for the Ísafjarðarbær municipality, which includes nearby villages. The town, granted municipal status in 1786, has a population of about 2,600. Bíldudalur is a small village on the coast of Arnarfjörður, in the Vesturbyggð municipality, with 238 residents as of January 2021. The village hosts a factory that processes local algae and is known as a fishing and artistic destination. Bíldudalur Airport links the area to the rest of Iceland.

TopicsBíldudalurÍsafjörðurLoftbrúWestfjordsWestfjords Trade Union