Overview
Icelandair was founded in 1937 and its headquarters is currently based at Reykjavik, Iceland. Operating with Icelandair Group as its parent company, the airline has a primary hub located at the Keflavik International Airport. Its frequent flyer program is the Saga Club with the Saga Lounge for its member lounge. With its fleet size reaching a little over 21 aircrafts, Icelandair makes use of these Icelandair to travel to at least 24 destinations all over the world
Company Profile and History
Icelandair is actually Iceland’s flag carrier airline. Its flight services are scheduled with destinations to 25 cities in roughly 12 countries worldwide. The airline’s roots can actually be traced back to the year 1937 – this was the time when Flugfélag Akureyrar was established on the northern coast of Iceland. This was in Akureyri, to be more specific. Operations did not really commence that year; rather, they started the following year already. This was done with the use of a Waco YKS-7 floatplane model. By the year 1940, the airline decided to move its headquarters to the heart of Reykjavik, thereby changing its name to Flugfélag Íslands. At this point in time, Flugfélag Íslands focused on the provision of domestic flights and other air services all over Iceland – with another company known as Loftleiðir doing the same.
The following year, Flugfélag Íslands launched its first international flights – these were to Denmark and Scotland. More international flights services were then scheduled in 1946, and the establishment of the airline’s international operations became official in 1947. The transatlantic flights that they launched and pioneered were quite low in price, making the airline quite the popular hub when it came to traveling between North America and Europe at the time.
Soon after, Flugfélag Íslands and Loftleiðir merged and the name of Flugleiðir was taken. The English name of the company then became Icelandair.
Icelandair Fleet
The airline’s fleet is comprised of Boeing aircraft models. The following are included: 737-800, 757-200, 757-200PF, 757-300, 767-300ER, and 787-800. Apart from these Boeing models, Icelandair also made use of the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
Icelandair Destinations
The airline was able to transport more than 1.5 million passengers in the year 2005 alone. This is actually the largest number that the airline has been able to transport in a single year. On the average, Icelandair operates at least 28 flights in a single day. Destinations include:
- Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and UK
- North America: Canada (Nova Scotia and Ontario) and USA (Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Washington
