Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við hittumst á flugvellinum áður en flugið byrjar. - We meet at the airport before the flight starts.

hittast is the reciprocal (reflexive) form of hitta (“to meet”). When two or more people meet each other, Icelandic uses að hittast (“to meet one another”). The ending -st marks the reflexive, so við hittumst literally means “we meet each other.”

Why is á flugvellinum in the dative case?

The preposition á (“on/at”) takes the dative when expressing a fixed location—i.e. “where” something happens. Therefore “at the airport” is á flugvellinum (dative). If you wanted to say “to the airport” (movement), á would require the accusative: á flugvöll.

How are the definite forms flugvellinum and flugið created from flugvöllur and flug?

Icelandic marks the definite article as a suffix on the noun.
• flugvöllur (airport) → indefinite dative sg flugvelli; add article -n → flugvellinum (“the airport,” dative).
• flug (flight) → indefinite nom sg flug; add article -ið → flugið (“the flight,” nominative).

Why is byrjar in the present tense? How do you express a future meeting?

byrjar is the 3rd-person sg. present of að byrja (“to start”). Icelandic often uses the present tense for scheduled future events, so Við hittumst ... áður en flugið byrjar can mean “We will meet ... before the flight starts.” To make the future explicit you can use mun + infinitive:
Við munum hittast á flugvellinum áður en flugið byrjar.

What role does áður en play, and which verb form follows it?

áður en is the conjunction “before” for time clauses. It’s followed by subject + verb in the indicative for real/factual actions: áður en flugið byrjar. (A more hypothetical or remote nuance could take the subjunctive: áður en flugið byrji, but that’s rarer in everyday speech.)

Is it necessary to include the subject pronoun við in Við hittumst ...?

No—Icelandic verb endings normally indicate the subject, so you can simply say Hittumst á flugvellinum áður en flugið byrjar and it still means “we meet.” Adding við gives extra emphasis or clarity.

What’s the difference between flugvöllur and flugstöð?

flugvöllur denotes the entire airport complex (runways, grounds, etc.), while flugstöð (“terminal”) refers specifically to the passenger building. If you mean “in the terminal,” you’d say í flugstöðinni instead of á flugvellinum.

How would you say “We met at the airport before the flight started” in past tense?

Shift both verbs to past:
Við hittumst á flugvellinum áður en flugið byrjaði.