About Icelandair
Icelandair is pleased to be one of the founding partners and an integral part of The Annual Mid-Atlantic Seminar & Trade Show.
As Iceland’s national carrier, Icelandair’s goal is to be your preferred airline to Iceland and beyond. Icelandair is committed to providing safe and reliable air travel and currently serves over 32 gateways in Europe, the U.S.A. and Canada.
The story of commercial aviation in Iceland began in 1919, less than 16 years after the Wright brothers made the first-ever powered flight.
As an airline, Icelandair traces its roots to the year 1937 when a fledgling airline, Flugfélag Akureyrar, was founded to ferry passengers and cargo to remote locations around the island’s coast.
In 1943 the company moved its headquarters to Reykjavík, and changed its name to Flugfélag Íslands (FI), which in 1979 assumed the international trade name Icelandair.
In 1944, three young Icelandic pilots, returning from flight training in Canada, founded Iceland’s second airline, Loftleidir, later known as Icelandic Airlines.
In 1945 Flugfélag Íslands made its first international flights to Scotland and Denmark. Loftleidir later followed with international operations 2 years later and pioneered low-fare services across the North-Atlantic in 1953.
In 1973 Flugfélag Íslands and Loftleidir merged under a new holding company, Flugleidir.
In October 1979 Flugleidir assumed all operating responsibilities of its two "parents", and became Icelandair in the international market. Icelanders kept the name Flugleidir for domestic Icelandic flights.
On the 50th anniversary of the company in 1987 a breakthrough agreement was signed with Boeing to renew the International fleet of Icelandair. A new generation of Boeing jets, Boeing 757-200 and 737-400 replaced the older fleet gradually from 1989 to 1993.
In January 2003 Flugleidir became a holding company with 11 subsidiaries in the travel and tourist industry in Iceland, Icelandair being the largest subsidiary.
In May 2005, a Boeing 767 aircraft was incorporated into Icelandair's route network and began servicing San Francisco, the airline's first destination on the U.S. west coast.
In October 2005, fundamental changes to the FL GROUP took place where investments became the focus and the airline and tourist service operations were divided into two separate subsidiaries; Icelandair Group and FL Travel Group.
In October 2006 FL GROUP sold Icelandair Group to a new group of investors and Icelandair Group went public on the Icelandic Stock Market.
In 2008, as part of a major re-branding effort, Icelandair launched a more advanced website, new comfortable leather seats with personal in-flight entertainment centers, roomier interiors, new uniforms, an upgraded economy cabin, and a new outlook for the company and transatlantic travel.
On May 14, 2010, Icelandair celebrated 40 years of jet service from the U.S.A. and is the only airline in existence today with such a long and distinguished record on the North Atlantic transatlantic route.
Today, Icelandair remains a pioneer in aviation and innovation and has been able to sustain a strong and successful presence in a very complex and competitive global market.
Icelandair Route Network
Approximately midway between North America and Europe, Iceland’s geographic location enables Icelandair to offer the shortest and most direct international route network with Iceland as a hub.
Icelandair’s Hub and Spoke System is able to maximize flights to and from North America arriving in Iceland with easy connections to Scandinavia, the UK and Continental Europe.
This successful strategy of combining passengers visiting and departing Iceland, with passengers travelling across the Atlantic (via Iceland) has allowed Icelandair to constantly grow and expand its network over the past decades.
The Icelandair network is based on a 24hour rotation with morning and afternoon connections in Iceland.
For the most up-to-date schedules, please visit www.icelandair.com