Overflow P5 sits a bit farther from Terminal 1
P5 Car Park at Keflavik International Airport is an overflow lot serving Terminal 1, used when the closer car parks start to fill up. It’s a standard outdoor car park, not covered, so your car sits in the open Icelandic weather the entire stay. Because it’s overflow, spaces here usually open up after P1–P4 get tight, which makes P5 a backup option rather than a first choice if you’re trying to park as close as possible to the terminal doors.
This is long-stay style parking, geared to trips running several days out of KEF’s single Terminal 1. P5 uses the same airport-managed payment system as the other official car parks, so you pay the posted KEF rates on entry/exit, not a separate private tariff. Being an overflow lot, it’s worth checking the airport’s live parking status before you drive all the way to P5, because KEF sometimes redirects cars between lots when demand spikes on specific flight banks.
All access to P5 feeds into Terminal 1, which handles both Schengen and non‑Schengen flights at Keflavik. You still walk or shuttle from P5 to the same terminal entrance doors that serve check‑in and security for airlines like Icelandair and PLAY. Factor in extra time compared with the main P1 area, since overflow locations usually sit farther from the check‑in counters that open roughly 2–3 hours before departure for most flights.
Practical tip: build in at least an extra 15–20 minutes over your usual KEF parking routine when using P5 Car Park, so the less central overflow location doesn’t turn a tight check‑in window into a missed bag drop cutoff.