Keflavík Airport arrivals: what happens after you land in Iceland

What Happens When You Land at Keflavík

The order of things, step by step.

Moving to Iceland, not just visiting? Companion Iceland is our sister site for living here: housing, taxes, and daily life after the trip ends.

What happens when you land

Is duty free before baggage claim at Keflavík? Yes. The arrivals shop comes before the belts, and once you pass it you cannot go back.

Order: plane, passport control (non Schengen only), duty free, baggage, customs, arrivals hall. One route. Tap a step for detail.

Off the plane

Bridge or bus, it ends in one corridor. Follow the crowd.

Some flights use a bridge, others a bus across the tarmac. Both lead to the same corridor.

Passport control

Only if your flight came from outside the Schengen Area.

Have your passport out before you queue. A short, honest answer about where you are staying is all that is wanted. From a Schengen country there is normally no check. Rules by nationality: travel requirements.

The long walk

It is meant to feel long. You are not lost.

Follow the orange suitcase symbol for Baggage Reclaim. You cannot leave the airport by accident.
Overhead sign at Keflavík Airport reading Arrivals, Baggage reclaim, Komur, Töskuafhending, with an orange suitcase symbol
Follow the orange suitcase symbol.

Duty free, before your bags

Buy alcohol here or not at all. You cannot come back.

Alcohol is generally cheaper here than at Vínbúðin, the only shops selling it elsewhere, with shorter hours.
Duty free shop at Keflavík Airport with a backlit whisky shelf wall and a digital pillar reading Tollkvóti, Duty Free Allowance
The arrivals shop, before the belts. A pillar states the allowance per person.

Baggage reclaim

Match your flight number on the screen to a belt number.

Stand at the right belt. A bag circling one belt away is the classic false alarm.
Baggage reclaim hall at Keflavík Airport with a large lit number four above a luggage belt and screens along the wall
Match the screen to the lit number above the belt.

If your bag does not appear

Report it at the desk in the same hall, before you leave.

Keep the reference number: the airline works from it. Trolleys are free and can go all the way outside.

Customs, the green and red doors

Green: nothing to declare. Red: over the allowance.

Random checks happen in green. Raw meat and dairy are restricted. Allowances: Iceland Customs.
Signs at Keflavík Airport customs reading Exit to Iceland and Útgangur, above the green channel
The sign says Exit to Iceland. Green is nothing to declare.

The arrivals hall

No way back in. Buses ahead, taxis outside right, no train.

Check you have every bag first. Cash machines, toilets, wifi and a 10-11 are here. Flybus and Airport Direct sell tickets at the desks. Waiting for a lift? Sit at Maika'i café.
Overhead sign in the Keflavík arrivals hall pointing to Arrivals, Car Rental and Tax refund, beside a coffee and food kiosk
The pink kiosk is Maika'i, for coffee and food.

If you rented a car

Check your booking for desk or shuttle. Photograph the car.

Walk around the car and photograph every panel before you drive off.
Car rental desks at Keflavík Airport, with Hertz, Europcar and Avis counters and key lockers
Some companies hand keys here, others send you to a shuttle.

If you want cash

Cards work almost everywhere. If you want notes, get them here.

Prosegur Change is opposite the rental desks: 05:00 to 01:00 (1 May to 30 Sep), 05:00 to 22:00 otherwise. Cash machines beside it run 24 hours. Exchange counters are rare elsewhere.
Change Money currency exchange and tax refund counter at Keflavík Airport, with cash machines beside it
Change Money, opposite the car rental desks.

Layout and services change. Check kefairport.com if timing matters.

The three checks, in this order

  1. 1. vedur.is for the weather and any warnings.
  2. 2. road.is for road status and closures.
  3. 3. Can I drive today? which reads both feeds for your exact spot and answers in one line: Go, Caution, or Not today.

You might also need

You Are Here: What Do You Need Right Now?

Bakeries, shops, pharmacies, SIM cards and adapters in Reykjavík

Getting to Reykjavík

Flybus, taxi, bus and rental car from the airport

Can I Drive Today?

Conditions before you pull out of the rental car park

Arrival Checklist

The calm list for your first 24 hours

Take the Arrival Checklist with you

A tick list for your first 24 hours, plus the offline Welcome Pack. Free with your email.

Get the checklist