Víking Heliskiing buys Siglufjörður airport buildings for northern Iceland base

Víking Heliskiing has agreed to buy two disused buildings at Siglufjörður Airport for ISK 12 million, about $87,000, to support its operation on northern Iceland’s Tröllaskagi Peninsula.

The deal with Fjallabyggð municipality covers the former passenger terminal and an equipment storage building. The airport and runway will remain under municipal ownership, with the runway required to stay available for official use as an emergency backup landing strip.

The terminal was built in 1973 and covers 121.6 square metres. The 115.7-square-metre equipment building dates from 1981. A privately owned aircraft hangar at the airport is unaffected by the sale.

The purchase gives Víking a dedicated aviation site close to the terrain where it runs its heliskiing programme. The company already bases guests in Siglufjörður, but currently lists the waterfront Sigló Hotel as its base rather than the airport.

The accepted offer is unconditional and transfers responsibility for the condition of the buildings to Víking. An earlier bid at the same ISK 12 million price was rejected after the company sought guarantees covering structural condition and weatherproofing.

Those initial terms would also have allowed Víking to deduct repair costs from the final payment if inspections found leaks, mould or other defects. The operator subsequently removed the conditions and agreed to buy the buildings in their present state.

Þórir Hákonarson, acting mayor of Fjallabyggð, said the condition of the properties was known and that the buyer would be responsible for future repairs, according to Iceland Review.

A base beside the Tröllaskagi terrain

Víking operates around the steep coastal mountains of Tröllaskagi, a peninsula about 40km south of the Arctic Circle. Peaks above 1,000 metres rise between its fjords, with Mount Kerling reaching 1,538 metres.

SnowBrains reports that the operator’s ski area covers about 5,000 square kilometres and can provide descents of up to 1,500 vertical metres. The terrain includes narrow couloirs and glacial faces running towards the coast.

The company works with Austrian aviation operator SennAir, using Airbus AS350 B3 and H125 A-Star helicopters. Its main season extends through spring, with March and April associated with winter snow conditions. May and June bring longer daylight and a greater chance of corn snow, the softened surface that forms through repeated overnight freezing and daytime thawing.

Víking has operated since 2013. It was founded by Björgvin Björgvinsson and Jóhann Haukur Hafstein, former Icelandic national-team alpine racers who grew up skiing in the area. Björgvinsson represented Iceland at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics.

Guests currently reach the operation by flying from Reykjavík to Akureyri and continuing by road to Siglufjörður. Víking’s travel guidance puts the domestic flight at about 35 minutes and the onward transfer at roughly 50 minutes.

The airport purchase leaves ownership and public responsibility for the runway unchanged. The two previously unused municipal buildings will give the heliskiing operator space for local aviation and equipment needs while preserving the site’s emergency role.