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3.3 Tourism

3.3.3 Flight passenger

Relates to the following UN World Goals

11. Sjálfbærar borgir og samfélög

Relates to the following subgoals

11.2

By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

8. Góð atvinna og hagvöxtur

Relates to the following subgoals

8.9

By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products.

Progress

 
Sustainability.is

Figure 1. The number of passengers traveling through Egilsstaðir Airport 2003-2023. Passengers are counted both on departure and arrival. International passengers are included.

Raw data in Excel

Updated: February 23, 2023
Source: Flight figures Isavia (2023). 

Metrics, Targets and Monitoring Protocol

What is measured?

Number of passengers and passenger load factor on flights to and from Egilsstaðir airport (Project effect: induced).

Monitoring Protocol

Information will be collected annually from Air Iceland and Statistics Iceland.

Target

Increase in the number of passengers from baseline

Possible countermeasures

None, only monitoring.

Changes of indicator

At the annual general meeting on May 3, 2016, the following changes in the monitoring protocol were approved.

Table 1. Changes to the indicator were approved at the 2016 annual meeting. What is measured?
Original text Changed text
Number of passengers on flights to Egilsstadir. (Project effect: induced). Number of passengers and load factor on flights to and from Egilsstaðir (Project effect: induced).

The rationale for changes:

The changes are made to add stock variables rather than measure only flow variables. At the initiative's annual meeting 2015, Jón Skafti Gestsson talked about the importance of monitoring stock variables. The group that discussed this indicator afterward suggested these changes.

This indicator was initially number 13.1c. It was then named Tourism Levels and can be found under that number in the project documents from 2005 and 2006.

The indicator number has been changed twice.

Table 2. Changes to name and number of indicators
Year Nr. Indicator name
2020 3.3.3 Flight passengers
2007 3.1c Tourism

Baseline

Sustainability.is
Figure 2. Passengers on flights to and from Egilsstaðir in 2000 and 2003. Source: Flugfélag Íslands, 2003.

Rationale for Indicator Selection

East Iceland attracts many tourists to see the area's wilderness, fjords, waterfalls, tundra, and landscapes. The projects will likely influence the number of tourists in the region through tourist interests in the projects, increased access to the area, and business travel. It is also possible that the projects will make the area less interesting to some tourists that feel the construction of the dam will have a negative impact on wilderness in the highlands. Tourists can access East Iceland by car, on tour buses, or via plane. Egilsstadir is the location of the region's principal airport, supporting local and international flights. The airport is well connected with good roads allowing access to many parts of East Iceland.

From phase I/II report on indicators and baseline from April 2005