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 in that they are patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) o ...

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

Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: ''Reykjavíkurflugvöllur'') is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The airport is located about from the city centre. It is the domestic hub of Icelandair flights and has two r ...

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

History

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 a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative region, the least populous in the country. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of I ...

, 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 The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light Short Take-Off and Landing, STOL cargo aircraft, utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraf ...

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial airc ...

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

Piper Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo airline, cargo and regional airline, feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran f ...

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

Cessna 206 The Cessna 205, 206 and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane), are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

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 th ...

contracts were discontinued due to the opening of the

Vestfjarðagöng Vestfjarðagöng (, regionally also , ) 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 meet at junction i ...

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 air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...

(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 An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

stopped flying. It operated scheduled services to Gjögur,

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 than ...

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 ...

, 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 Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). In its last year of operation its only scheduled service was to

. On 27 February 2018, Birna Borg Gunnarsdóttir, the granddaughter of founder Hörður Guðmundsson, became the first female pilot in the airlines history. In 2018, the airline purchased a 32-seat Dornier 328 airliner. In January 2023, the airline

Mýflug Mýflug (; , named after Lake Mývatn in Northern Iceland), also called Myflug Air, is an Icelandic airline established in 1985. It operates charter, medivac and sightseeing flights. The company operates two aircraft types: Two Beechcraft Super ...

, together with another investors, bought a 77.1 percent stake in Eagle Air. In October 2024, the airline was declared bankrupt. Mýflug took over its only scheduled service to

Destinations

Ernir Air British Aerospace BAe-3212 Jetstream Super 31 Goetting

From

(RKV) to:

Former destinations

Bíldudalur Airport Bíldudalur Airport is an airport serving Bíldudalur, a village in the Vesturbyggð municipality in the Westfjords of Iceland. The runway is south-southeast of the village. Flights that land in Northern direction, which is common, have to pas ...

(BIU) *

Gjögur Airport Gjögur Airport ( ) 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 controller, and only opens for ...

(GJR) * Holt Airport (FLI) *

Hornafjörður Airport Hornafjörður Airport or Hornafjordur Airport is an airport serving Höfn, Iceland. The airport is north of the town. It is served by Norlandair with regular flights to Reykjavík Airport. The Hornafjordur non-directional beacon (Ident: HN) ...

(HFN) in

Húsavík Airport Húsavík Airport ( , regionally also ) is an airport serving Húsavík, Iceland. The runway is southwest of the town. As of March 2025, there are no scheduled services to Húsavík Airport. The opening of the Vaðlaheiðargöng, Vaðlaheiðarg ...

(HZK) *

Ísafjörður Airport Ísafjörður Airport ( ) is an airport serving Ísafjörður, a town in the Westfjords () region in northwestern Iceland. History Planning for the airport started in 1958 construction of the runway started the same year. It was originally 1,100 ...

(IFJ) *

Patreksfjörður Airport Patreksfjörður Airport or Patreksfjordur Airport was an airport serving Patreksfjörður, Iceland. The airport was across the fjord, south of the town. The Patreksfjordur non-directional beacon (Ident: PA) is located on the field. The airpo ...

(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. ...

Vestmannaeyjar Airport Vestmannaeyjar Airport ( ) 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. The airport services seasonal, ...

(VEY)

Air charter services

Ambulance flights

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

Freight

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

Aerial photography

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

Fleet

Before ceasing operations, Eagle Air operated the following aircraft: * British Aerospace Jetstream 32: TF-ORA, TF-ORC, TF-ORG twin engine turboprop aircraft

British Aerospace Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

: TF-ORD * Cessna 207A Stationair 8: TF-ORB - single engine piston aircraft *

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

: TF-ORI - twin engine turboprop for 32 passengers

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 Ljósufjöll () is a fissure vent system and central volcano on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland. The name derives from the central volcano and translates into English as "Mountains of the Light". Geography The volcanic system has a lengt ...

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The peninsula has a volcanic origin having the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt down its centre, and the Snæfellsjökull volcano A volcano is com ...

, 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 Skutulsfjörður is the westernmost fjord branching off the major Icelandic fjord of Ísafjarðardjúp. The town of Ísafjörður is located in the fjord. Two main valleys enter from Skutulsfjörður, Engidalur and Tungudalur, separated by the mo ...

while on approach to

, in bad weather, killing the pilot.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
{{Airlines of Iceland Defunct airlines of Iceland Airlines established in 1970 Airlines disestablished in 1995 Airlines established in 2003 Airlines disestablished in 2024 Defunct charter airlines