Icelandair shifts North-Atlantic focus

Icelandair will shift the focus of its North-Atlantic operations next year. Scheduled flights to Toronto will start in May, while Baltimore will be taken out of the network this winter.

The morning flights to Boston and New York out of Keflavik during the summer will continue this year and capacity to London will be increased slightly. Icelandair will terminate the Baltimore service effective 13 January 2008, while Toronto flights will begin 2 May 2008.

“Our schedule for 2008 will be similar to our 2007 schedule but we are changing our North-Atlantic operations by moving to Toronto in Canada from Baltimore. We have expanded considerably over the past few years, so the focus in 2008 is on making adjustments to our network. We have a strong focus on serving our domestic Icelandic market and visitors to Iceland and we are fine-tuning the Icelandair network and our capacity in order to increase its profitability”, says Jón Karl Ólafsson, CEO of Icelandair.

Toronto is Canada's largest city and transportation centre. “This city has the potential to become a very popular destination for Icelanders as it's a thriving multicultural city. It also offers possibilities for inbound tourism to Iceland as Toronto is the key Canadian transportation hub for millions of people. Last year we started flying again to Halifax, so we have a strong focus on Canada at the moment”, says Jon Karl.

“We say goodbye to Baltimore now after flying to the city for years. Unfortunately the route became less profitable recently, following the departure of thousands of US citizens from the US military base in Iceland.”

Capacity to London will be increased slightly next year with two flights a day, as well as, continued flight to Manchester and Glasgow. The capacity to Copenhagen will be similar to last years with up to 5 flights a day next summer, and an average of 4 flights per day.

Next spring Icelandair will again start morning flights out of Iceland to the US, as well as, morning flights from Paris and Frankfurt at eight in the morning to Iceland.

“Our network is based on a 24 hour rotation where our aircraft leave Iceland for Europe in the morning, return in the afternoon, then
leave for North-America for a return to Iceland in the morning. We had a good success with this “reverse” rotation last summer and will continue this year.” said Jón Karl.

“Next summer we are flying from Iceland to 25 destinations in Europe and North America with varying frequency to each destination. We are constantly reviewing and fine-tuning our schedule in order to offer the best possible service for our clients in Iceland and our other destinations.”

With roots stretching back over seventy years, Icelandair is one of the world's longest established airlines. Icelandair Group, of which Icelandair is one subsidiary, currently employs nearly 3 thousand people in ten countries and is a public company listed on the OMX Iceland stock exchange as ICEAIR. Icelandair Group owns and operates profitable and dynamic travel and transport companies delivering safe, reliable and convenient services.