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Stakeholders

Stakeholder relationships

Isavia focuses on extensive collaboration with those stakeholders who rely on the services of the company and who are affected by its operations. Operations have an impact throughout the country and on all its inhabitants. Isavia has analysed over a hundred stakeholders – these can be classified as customers, employees, the community, the authorities and suppliers.

In autumn 2018, Isavia hired the Swedish consultancy company Enact Sustainable Strategies to conduct interviews with the company’s stakeholders. The aim was to find out what major stakeholders consider to be the most important issues and topics as regards the company’s social responsibility. This year, the investigation focused entirely on customers, and this information was then added to the results of earlier interviews.

Communication with and between employees happens first and foremost on the company’s intranet, at staff meetings with the CEO and members of management and at events held by the company. The company’s intranet, Flugan, is a social media connecting employees. Everybody can make entries and upload pictures and videos they wish to share with their colleagues. Employees can also retrieve various tools and equipment to use in their work and manage registrations of events and training courses within the company.

Communication with users and operators happens first and foremost during regular meetings. Communications with passengers are the direct interactions of the company’s employees at airports and using all main communication formats: telephone, e-mail, websites and social media and regular customer surveys. More detailed discussions on the stakeholder groups employees and customers may be found in independent sections.

The community

There are extensive communications with local authorities and regional associations in the neighbourhood of the airports. Communications have been carried out at meetings with the town and municipal authorities, as well as other stakeholders. The company is working constantly to improve the way in which information is disseminated, as the activities of the company can have a considerable impact on local communities. This is particularly true of the Suðurnes peninsula, as Keflavík Airport is the largest workplace in the area and its growing scope has a considerable impact on the growth of surrounding municipalities.

Collaboration on the UN Sustainable development Goals. Representatives of Isavia and the local communities from Suðurnes meet at a preparatory meeting for the project on June 14, 2019.

One of Isavia’s actions to further strengthen collaboration with external stakeholders is joint strategic planning with the local authorities and companies in Suðurnes based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The object of a consultation forum is to increase collaboration between Isavia, the local authorities and other stakeholders in Suðurnes and thereby work on shared interests as a single entity.

There is also close collaboration with the marketing agencies in North and East Iceland where, for example, work has been carried out on marketing efforts on direct flights to Akureyri and Egilsstaðir in collaboration with the Flugþróunarsjóð (Route Development Fund).

Isavia collaborates extensively with entities in the tourism sector such as the Travel Industry Association (SAF), the Icelandic Tourist Board, Promote Iceland and the Tourism Task Force. In addition, the company is a member of Iceland Tourism and Iceland Naturally and a sponsor of Inspired by Iceland and also has a representative on the Advisory Board of Íslandsstofa. Isavia is also an active member of the port and transport group of the Icelandic Ocean Cluster, a collaborative forum for companies, most of which are directly involved in transport and port operations.

Isavia collaborates extensively with entities in the tourism sector such as the Travel Industry Association, the Icelandic Tourist Board, Promote Iceland and the Tourism Task Force.

The Isavia ANS work in close co-operation with other service entities within and outside Europe. The company participates in Borealis, a collaborative venue for nine flight navigation service providers in North Europe.

Isavia has been one of the sponsors of the consultation venue Arctic Circle from the very beginning, and employees take an active part in discussions on the issues facing the Nordic region, whether in connection with air traffic in the Nordic area or in connection with ideas of developing a rescue services hub in Iceland.

In addition, Isavia regularly holds open meetings to provide information to the public and entities within the tourism sector as regards the company’s operations at Keflavík Airport, such as on construction and traffic forecasts within the travel industry. Isavia employees have also given talks at numerous meetings that have been held by other entities.

The authorities

Communications with the authorities take many forms. The state is the owner of the company, and it follows the general owner policies of the state in its operations. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has overall control of the shares, and formal communications are carried out at shareholders’ meetings and the Annual General Meeting. Other communications with the owner take place during meetings which are convened as needed.


The Ministry of Transport and Local Government plays a two-fold role in connection with operations of Isavia: 1) as the professional ministry for air traffic issues, and 2) as a business partner of the company as regards the running of the domestic airport system. The company has a seat on three committees and boards operated by the Ministry: The Professional Board for Aviation Issues, the Facilitation Board and the Transport Board (permanent representative). The company has regular professional communications with the Ministry on aviation issues and close collaboration as regards the implementation of the service agreement. The company has representatives in various Ministry committees dealing with aviation issues.

Meetings are also held a few times a year with the Ministry of Industries and Innovation in connection with tourism issues. The Ministry has established a Flight Development Fund aimed at strengthening international flights to Akureyri and Egilsstaðir, and Isavia has a representative on the Board of the Fund. The company also has one representative on the Promote Iceland Board responsible for the ‘Inspired by Iceland’ and ‘Iceland Naturally’ marketing projects, which are intended to raise awareness of Iceland as a tourist destination. Meetings are also held with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Icelandic Coast Guard in connection with defence-related operations at Keflavík Airport and the Airport’s organisational issues.

Isavia has a great deal of interaction with many public bodies, owing to the diversity of the company’s activities. The closest interaction is with the Icelandic Transport Authority, which issues operating permits for airports and flight controls and is responsible for the appropriate supervision of implementation and operations. Other monitoring bodies of note are the National Centre for Hygiene, Food Control and Environmental Protection, the Construction Authority, the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health, the Health Authorities, the National Planning Agency and the Environment Agency. Many public bodies have operating units within or in close collaboration with the company, such as the police, the Directorate of Customs, the National Civil Protection Authorities and the Coast Guard. The municipal bodies connected to the operation of Isavia are mainly the health authorities, fire protection and fire brigades.

Isavia is responsible for the implementation of two international agreements on flight navigation services. One is ICAO’s Joint Financing Agreement, with 24 states as signatories, which provides for the financing of flight navigation services within the Icelandic flight information region (Reykjavík IFR). The other is the agreement between the Icelandic and Danish authorities for flight navigation services within the flight information region of Greenland.

Isavia is also monitored by and collaborates with foreign entities, the principal one being the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a United Nations agency. ICAO establishes international standards for all main aspects of civil aviation and monitors the performance of states and service providers. ICAO also monitors the performance of the abovementioned ‘Joint Finance’ agreement. As regard the company’s operations in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Isavia is monitored by the Trafik- og byggestyrelsen (Transport, Construction and Housing Authority) in Denmark, and as regards collaboration on flight communications services in the North Atlantic, there is close communication with the Irish Aviation Authorities. In the arena of the Borealis collaboration, the company collaborates with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Suppliers

Responsible management of the supply chain is extremely important in the operation of Isavia. Establishing and maintaining a sustainable supplychain increases the likelihood of economical transactions, reduces operational risks and improves the company’s reputation. Increased demands for social responsibility encourage continuous improvements to supply chains, as the operation of the company has an effect on numerous aspects of the economy. The proportion of total transactions with Icelandic suppliers is 81%, and that of overseas suppliers is around 19%, although there are no records detailing which of these are based outside the European Economic Area.

The company’s procurement department provides procedures for the procurement of goods, tasks and services in as an efficient and economical manner as possible. The company’s procurement procedures are e.g. used to select competent suppliers and ensure quality and timely resources.

Business relationships were established with the company’s largest suppliers following their participation in a procurement procedure that fulfils the provisions of Act No. 120/2016 on Public Procurement and Regulation No. 340/2017 on procurement by parties operating in the water, energy, transportation and postal service sectors. The procurement procedure is implemented through different types of invitations to tender or price enquiries in which companies must fulfil basic competence requirements such as not being in arrears with withholding tax, public levies and statutory pension fund dues. In addition, there is a chain-of-responsibility clause in purchasing documentation.

A negotiated process following a publication of tendering specifications is used to the extent possible in large and complicated procurements. Such process ensures communications with tenderers during the tendering process, which can be of great advantage. Negotiations reduce the company’s risk, increase the likelihood of a correct needs analysis of resources and delivery, which again ensures increased economisation.

In aspects for which domestic know-how is lacking as regards services and manufacture, the company has often included the condition in tender documents that international suppliers are to bid for the goods, tasks or services in co-operation with Icelandic suppliers. This is done for many reasons, not least based on social views where the collaboration between domestic and international suppliers will result in an increase in knowledge and legacy into the national economy.

The procurement procedure is implemented through different types of invitations to tender or price enquiries in which companies must fulfil basic competence requirements. In addition, there is a chain-of-responsibility clause in purchasing documentation.


To ensure the traceability of cost and co-ordinated payment terms, the company’s business terms are always used for procurements and are accessible on the website of the company.
At the beginning of 2020, work began on a needs analysis and installation of a procurement order process. This was done to ensure traceability and transparency in purchases. In addition, it will provide a good overview and the possibility of improved cost and inventory management and facilitate the updating and changing of orders. Once the new procurement order process has been adopted, the aim is to achieve greater improvements in purchasing and the operation of agreements.

In order to limit as far as possible, the likelihood of the use of forced, compulsory or child labour for resources and equipment purchased in domestic and international markets, the supplier code of conduct is always included in the tender documentation and must be complied with.

The company’s contracts contain clauses prohibiting pseudo-contracting, and an employment relationship between parties is the governing principle in relations between the employees and the contractor. This is to ensure that all employee charges, of any denomination, are paid and that the provisions of collective wage agreements are complied with.

All Isavia contracts contain provisions on data protection which comply with new provisions laid down in EU data protection legislation, where appropriate. The Code of Conduct for Suppliers is attached to all our contracts. The Code requires suppliers used by the company to adhere to the rules it contains and to ensure that their own suppliers do likewise. Upon request, suppliers must be able to demonstrate that these rules are being followed.