On Friday, Skarphéðinn Berg Steinarsson was quoted in the media as saying, former CEO of Iceland Express, as being surprised by the proceedings against Isavia, while Wow Air has in recent months been seeking slot times at Keflavik Airport during specific periods of the day, in order to launch American flights in competition with Icelandair. The Competition Authority addressed the matter in a decision No. 25/2013 and issued binding instructions to Isavia regarding the matter in order to promote competition.
The aforementioned news reports quote Skarphéðinn Berg Steinarsson as saying that Iceland Express had no difficulty operating flights to Boston and New York in 2011. In this regard, it is worth noting that at the time to which Skarphéðinn refers, the Competition Authority was handling a complaint from Iceland Express, in which the company complained of serious barriers to competition arising from the allocation of ground handling slots at Keflavik Airport. In June 2012, when Skarphéðinn was the managing director of Iceland Express, the Competition Authority received a letter from the company stating its view that Isavia's arrangement for allocating ground handling slots had a significant exclusionary effect on Iceland Express and maintained Icelandair's dominant position in scheduled flights to and from Iceland. It is also noted that with this arrangement, Isavia had given Icelandair a competitive advantage and an „exclusive right“ to the best handling slots at the airport. Iceland Express was, among other things, forced to cease the scheduled flights to the United States that it had operated in 2010 and 2011.
Skarphéðinn Berg Steinarsson's statements on Isavia's allocation of handling slots are therefore inconsistent with the position that Iceland Express, under his management, presented to the Competition Authority in mid-2012. The Competition Authority considers it important that public debate on important competition matters takes place on the correct grounds.
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