The boarding bridges took the long route
The boarding bridges at the east wing were installed in beautiful weather recently.
When the second floor of the east wing is fully taken into use, four new boarding bridges to aircraft will be added. The bridges are connected to two towers, which have been given the working names Mars 1 and Mars 2.
The boarding bridges, which are manufactured by the Chinese company CIMC Tianda, arrived in the country a few weeks ago and were attached to the two towers in exceptionally good weather, as can be seen in the accompanying photos. Their journey from the manufacturer to Keflavík Airport took longer and involved more detours than one might expect.
A Roundabout Route via the Cape of Good Hope and Krýsuvík
First, the ship transporting them from Shenzhen in China had to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa because the conflict in the Red Sea has made sailing through the Suez Canal more dangerous than usual. Eimskip then transported the bridges from Rotterdam to Sundahöfn harbor in Iceland.
Because of weight, length, and height restrictions, it was not possible to transport the bridges from Sundahöfn through Reykjavík. Instead, they had to be driven to Þorlákshöfn and then along the South Coast Road (Suðurstrandarvegur). Restrictions on traffic through Grindavík meant that the route continued via Krýsuvíkurvegur onto Reykjanesbraut. In Icelandic, the phrase "to take the Krýsuvík route" means to take the long route - a saying that fits this situation perfectly. ET Transport handled the transport and made four trips during the evening. The company specializes in heavy transport, and the police escorted the vehicle the entire way.
With the opening of the boarding bridges, as well as the two new bus gates in the east wing, the airport’s capacity increases and the overall passenger experience will be improved.
The boarding bridges and towers together form what is known as a MARS system, which stands for Multiple Aircraft Ramp System and explains the working names of the towers. This system allows the towers and bridges to be used more flexibly than older boarding bridges, and they can serve either one large aircraft or two smaller ones simultaneously.
