Eagle Air (

Icelandic name Icelandic names are names used by people from Iceland. Icelandic surnames are different from most other naming systems in the modern Western world by being patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) of the child ...

: Flugfélagið Ernir) is an Icelandic airline. It is based at

Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: ''Reykjavíkurflugvöllur'') is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, located about from the city centre. Having shorter runways than the city's larger international airport Kef ...

and offers domestic flights, charter services, and adventure tours in Iceland.

History

Ernir Air British Aerospace BAe-3212 Jetstream Super 31 Goetting

Eagle Air was founded in 1970 by Hörður Guðmundsson and his family as a transportation and security link in the

Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coas ...

, one of the most remote parts of Iceland. The airline's initial focus was on ambulance and mail services. Propeller-driven aircraft operated by Eagle Air included the Helio Courier, Britten-Norman Islander,

Piper Aztec The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined light aircraft aimed at the general-aviation market. The United States Navy and military forces in other countries also used it in small numbers. Origin ...

Piper Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Ta ...

, Cessna Titan, de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, Cessna 206 and

Cessna 185 The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a six-seat, single-engined, general aviation light aircraft manufactured by Cessna. It first flew as a prototype in July 1960, with the first production model completed in March 1961. The Cessna 185 is a high-winge ...

. Eagle Air also had a domestic charter flight component, which moved into the international arena in the early 1980s. Eagle Air flew charters to airports in Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and Europe. In the early 1990s, Eagle Air accepted key assignments from the International Red Cross to operate in Kenya, Sudan, Mozambique and Angola, delivering aid supplies to civil war stricken regions. In 1995, Eagle Air moved its headquarters from Ísafjörður to Reykjavík after most of its

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be t ...

contracts were discontinued due to the opening of the

Vestfjarðagöng Vestfjarðagöng (, regionally also , "Westfjords Tunnel") is the longest tunnel in Iceland, located in Westfjords in northwestern Iceland. It has a length of and was opened in September 1996. The tunnel has three entrances and the three arms ...

tunnel. It later sold off most of its airplanes and turned in its

air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...

(AOC) but kept one plane along with other assets. The company was restarted in Reykjavík in 2003. In 2006 it reapplied for an AOC took over service to destinations where

Air Iceland The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...

stopped flying. It began scheduled services to

Árneshreppur Árneshreppur () is an Icelandic municipality, located in the Westfjords peninsula of northwestern Iceland."Árneshrep ...

Bíldudalur Bíldudalur () is a village situated on the coast of Arnarfjörður, one of the Westfjords in Iceland. It is situated in the Vesturbyggð municipality and has 238 inhabitants (as of January 2021). The village prospered in the 19th century thank ...

Höfn Höfn () or Höfn í Hornafirði () is an Icelandic fishing town in the southeastern part of the country. It lies near Hornafjörður fjord. The town, the second largest in the southeastern part of Iceland, offers scenic views of Vatnajökull (t ...

, and

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

, and in August 2010 to

Heimaey Heimaey (), is an Icelandic island. At , it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. Heimaey is off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated isl ...

in the

Westman Islands Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyj ...

. It now flies to

Húsavík Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík i ...

and

Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyj ...

. On 27 February 2018, Birna Borg Gunnarsdóttir, the granddaughter of founder Hörður Guðmundsson, became the first female pilot in the airlines history.

Destinations

Current destinations

From

(RKV) to: *

Hornafjörður Airport Hornafjörður Airport or Hornafjordur Airport is an airport serving Höfn, Iceland. The airport is north of the town. The Hornafjordur non-directional beacon (Ident: HN) is located 1.24 nautical miles off the threshold of runway 36. Airlines ...

(HFN) in

Húsavík Airport Húsavík Airport ( is, Húsavíkurflugvöllur , regionally also ) is an airport serving Húsavík, Iceland. The runway is southwest of the town. The Gardur non-directional beacon (Ident: GA) (4.1 nautical miles) and the Husavik non-directional ...

(HZK) *

Vestmannaeyjar Airport Vestmannaeyjar Airport ( is, Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur ) is a two-runway airport on the island of Heimaey, in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. It is also known as Westman Islands Airport. Opera ...

(VEY)

Former destinations

* Bíldudalur Airport (BIU) *

Gjögur Airport Gjögur Airport ( is, Gjögurflugvöllur ) is an airport serving the small population of the Árneshreppur district in the Westfjords of north-west Iceland, on the coast of Húnaflói bay. Operations It is staffed part-time by an AFIS control ...

(GJR) * Holt Airport (FLI) * Ísafjörður Airport (IFJ) * Patreksfjörður Airport (PFJ) *

Sauðárkrókur Airport Sauðárkrókur Airport is an airport serving Sauðárkrókur, a village on the Skagafjörður bay in northern Iceland. The Hegranes non-directional beacon (Ident: HE) is 1.8 nautical miles northeast of the airport. Airlines and destinations Wi ...

(SAK) * Suðureyri Airport (SUY) *

Þingeyri Airport Þingeyri Airport is an airport serving Þingeyri (Thingeyri), Iceland. It was closed for air traffic in 2013 due to winter damage to the runway. The runway has reopened to traffic. It is typically only used as a backup to Ísafjörður airport. ...

Air charter services

Ambulance flights

Eagle Air has decades of experience in ambulance flights, and flies aircraft with pressurised cabins that can fly above weather for patient comfort. Oxygen and oxygen masks are on board, and a doctor and/or medical crew can be arranged if requested.

Freight

Eagle Air operates freight flights to any location in Iceland, overseas or at sea.

Aerial photography

Eagle Air has aircraft which are well suited for aerial photography, livestock inventory, and other similar projects.

Current fleet

* British Aerospace Jetstream 32: TF-ORA, TF-ORC, TF-ORD- twin engine turboprop aircraft * Cessna 207A Stationair 8: TF-ORB - single engine piston aircraft *

Dornier 328 The Dornier 328 is a turboprop-powered commuter airliner. Initially produced by Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the 328 family in Oberpfaffen ...

: TF-ORI - twin engine turboprop for 32 passengers Source
/small>

Accidents and incidents

* On 5 April 1986, an Eagle Air Piper PA-23-250 Aztec with registration TF-ORM got caught in a downdraft and crashed in Ljósufjöll in

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland, can be found in the area. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest ...

, killing four of the six people on board. * On 11 January 1987, an Eagle Air

with registration TF-ORN, crashed in the ocean outside of Skutulsfjörður, in bad weather, killing the pilot.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
{{Airlines of Iceland Airlines of Iceland Airlines established in 1970 Airlines disestablished in 1995 Airlines established in 2003