Icelandair will increase the number of flights by 17% and introduce new destinations into its network in the spring of 2007. Icelandair will start operations into Bergen in Norway, Gothenburg in Sweden and Halifax in Canada. In addition it offer morning flights from Keflavik to Boston and New York in the United States. San Fransisco will not be part of the network next summer after being a summer destination for 2 years.

"We are celebrating the 70th anniversary of Icelandair next year. Part of that celebration is to offer our customers the largest schedule in the history of Icelandair. This schedule is reflects our emphasis on offering more frequency to the Nordic countries, our most important market and at the same time offer new possibilities for travelers between Europe and North America”, said Jon Karl Olafsson, Icelandair CEO. This schedule represents 150 flights per week from Iceland and is the largest in the history of the airline, and represents and increase of 17 percent compared to the 2006 summer schedule.

The main change in the Icelandair schedule are the introduction of flights to the United States from Iceland at 10 AM and flights from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm að 8 AM. “Many of you might be familiar with our route network concept of a 24 hour cycle. Most of our flights leave for Europe in the morning, return to Iceland at noon and continue to the United States from Iceland in the afternoon and return back to Iceland the following morning. We now intend to expand our services even further by offering flights that leave in the morning from Europe. That means we’ll fly out of Europe early in the morning, continue on from Iceland in the morning to the United States and then return to Iceland around midnight and continue on to Europe during the night to arrive early in the morning in Europe. This is an exciting new service for our customers here in Iceland, in Europe and the United States”, said Jon Karl.

“By offering this new service we are laying the ground work for an increase in the number of visitors to Iceland. This will of course offer new possibilities for Icelanders, but this new service is focused upon the needs of foreign travelers, which generate approximately 70% of our revenue”, said Jon Karl

Bergen, Gothenburg and Halifax are New Destinations

Icelandair will start operations to Bergen in Norway, Gothenburg in Sweden and Halifax in Canada next spring. Flights are scheduled 3 to 4 times per week to each destination. The flights to Bergen and Gothenburg are an addition to the flights already offered to the four Nordic capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. On average Icelandair will fly 10 times every day to the Nordic countries next summer.

"Bergen has seen a tremendous build up of its travel services over the last few years and the city is a center for cruises to the Norwegian fjords. These cruises are popular among American tourists and with a stop over at our hub in Keflavik we can offer a great way to get to Bergen from the United States. We know that this offers a wealth of opportunities for the travel trade and the city of Bergen to open up new markets. Furthermore, we know that this route is an excellent choice for both Icelandic and Norwegian businesses”, said Gunnar Mar Sigurfinnsson, SVP Sales and Marketing at Icelandair.

The main drive behind the Gothenburg flights is to strengthen our product offering in the Swedish travel market and to strengthen the Icelandair brand. “On the one hand, we are offering more choice for Swedes interested in visiting Iceland, while at the same time strengthening our position as the airline of choice when traveling for Nordic travelers on their way to North America”, said Gunnar Mar.

There will be three flights per week to Halifax in Canada nexty summer. “Icelandair has been interested in flying between Canada and Iceland for a long time. However, due to restrictions on the number of flights to Canada we’ve not been able to build up our services to Canada. It now appears the Canadian authorities have a more positive attitude towards our needs and we have therefore, decided to add Halifax again to our destination network following a hiatus of a few years. The city has been popular among Icelandic travelers, but our emphasis is on opening up new possibilities for travelers to fly between Canada and Europe,” said Gunnar Mar.

Beyond the introduction of these three new destinations, Icelandair has scheduled an increase in the number of flights to Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Helsinki next summer. “We fly from Iceland to 25 destinations in Europe and N-America with various number of flights to each destinations. We schedule the number of flights to each destination with a view towards offering our customers in Iceland and around the world a great schedule and service, while maintaining an acceptable return on investment for our shareholders. Unfortunately we’ve had to cut San Francisco next summer like we’ve done for the previous 2 summers, as the revenue generated by the route did not meet our expectations. It’s clear that 2005 will be one of the best years ever for Icelandair and we intend to do even better next year,” said Jon Karl.