Icelandair
| Icelandair | ||
|---|---|---|
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| IATA FI |
ICAO ICE |
Callsign ICEAIR |
| Founded | 1937 | |
| Hubs | Keflavík International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Saga Club | |
| Member lounge | Saga Lounge | |
| Fleet size | 22 (+31 orders) | |
| Destinations | 24 | |
| Parent company | Icelandair Group | |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík, Iceland | |
| Key people | President and CEO: Björgólfur Jóhannsson | |
| Website: http://www.icelandair.net | ||
Icelandair is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, based in Reykjavík. It is part of the Icelandair Group and operates services to 22 cities in 12 countries on both sides of the Atlantic. Its main base is Keflavík International Airport.[1].
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Icelandair traces its roots to 1937 when Flugfélag Akureyrar was founded in Akureyri on the north coast of Iceland. Operations started in 1938 with a Waco YKS-7 floatplane. In 1940, the company moved its headquarters to Reykjavík and changed its name to Flugfélag Íslands. A company called Loftleiðir had been formed by three pilots in 1944. Initially, Loftleiðir and Flugfélag Íslands concentrated on Icelandic domestic air services.
In 1945, Flugfélag Íslands (Iceland Airways Ltd) made its first international flights to Scotland and Denmark. Scheduled international services were commenced in 1946 with converted B-24 Liberator aircraft leased from Scottish Airways. Loftleiðir began international operations in 1947 and its pioneering low-fare services across the North-Atlantic commenced in 1953. At the time, IATA determined the fares for airlines flying between Europe and North America, and all airlines charged the same amount. Loftleiðir was not a part of IATA and could, therefore, determine its own fares, undercutting all competing airlines. This made them a popular hub for travel between Europe and North America.
Flugfélag Íslands and Loftleiðir were merged in 1973 and the name Flugleiðir was adopted. The company's English name became Icelandair. A large portion of the air traffic between the United States to Europe flies over Iceland making the island a transfer point for people travelling between the U.S. to Europe and vice versa. This accounts for much of the company's passenger traffic. Icelandair's stopover plan dates back to when Loftleiðir started the plan in 1963 on its transatlantic flights at no extra cost. At the time, Loftleiðir was the only airline that did this and, therefore, pioneered sixth freedom rights. Early sixth freedom flights operated to Findel airport in Luxembourg. That airport was eventually dropped in 1999 in favor of service to more populous cities in Europe. In 1996, Icelandair entered into an interline and marketing agreement with low-fare carrier, Southwest Airlines.[2] This allowed Southwest to carry American passengers destined for Europe. The agreements are no longer in effect.
After the merger, Icelandair was the holding company for the two airlines, but assumed all operating responsibilities in October 1979. In 1997, it established a subsidiary, Air Iceland, to operate domestic and selected short-haul routes. In January 2002, Flugleiðir-Icelandair Group became a holding company with 11 subsidiaries, of which Icelandair is the largest. In March 2005, the group's name was changed to FL Group. In October 2005, FL Group sold its airline and travel operations and a new company, Icelandair Group, was formed. Icelandair has 2,565 employees (as of March 2007).[1]
Icelandair transported over one-and-a-half million passengers in 2005 (1,526,241), the largest number of passengers that the airline has transported in one year. The number of passengers increased 14.5 per cent from the previous year and, since 1993, this amount has tripled. On average, Icelandair operated 28 flights a day in 2005.[3].
The Icelandair fleet includes the following aircraft (as of October 2008) [1]:
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Boeing 757-200 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Boeing 757-200PF | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Boeing 757-300 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Boeing 787-800 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Sukhoi Superjet 100 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
On February 28, 2005, Icelandair signed a contract for two Boeing 787s for delivery in 2010 and purchased rights for five more. On April 5, 2006, Icelandair signed a contract to exercise two of their five Boeing 787 purchase rights for delivery in 2012.[citation needed]
Icelandair shares many of these aircraft with its sister company Loftleiðir Icelandic. Loftleiðir Icelandic is now operating 6 Boeing 757-200s and 2 Boeing 767-300s. Icelease, another sister company of Icelandair, owns 15 Boeing 737-800s. These aircraft were leased to other companies including Air China and Hong Kong Airlines until the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ended.[citation needed]
Icelandair is leasing one of its 757-200 to Air Niugini in Papua New Guinea registration TF-FII. Icelandair's sister company Loftleidir Icelandic is leasing one of its aircraft a 767-300.
They lease a 757-200 to Santa Barbara Airlines for the Caracas - Miami run, the contract end in the spring of 2009
Icelandair's other 767, TF-FIB is leased to the Czech charter company Travel Service for flights to Asia and the Caribbean
Icelandair has 3 aircraft on lease to Yakutia Airlines in Siberia all are 757-200.
Russian Media has reported that Icelandair was behind a currently-unidentified European order for the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100, and now has 20 of the type on order and purchase rights for five more.[2]
- The first jets Icelandair acquired for their international routes were Douglas DC-8-63CFs, when the airline was still operating as Loftleiðir Icelandic and Boeing 727s as Flugfélag Íslands. The DC-8-63CF fleet was acquired from Seaboard World Airlines of the US. After the merger of the two, both types were used, but during the 1990s, they started acquiring their current fleet of Boeing 757s, along with Boeing 737s that have now been phased out of operation.
- Icelandair used a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from 1978 to 1979 under the registration N1035F. The Trijet was later used by Air Florida and then with FedEx where it is still in use.
- When Flugfélag Íslands began international flights from Iceland, it used a Consolidated Catalina flying boat.
- Former Icelandair subsidiary International Air Bahama, acquired in the early 1970s, which operated a single Douglas DC-8-63CF (N8630; later TF-FLE) between Nassau, Bahamas and Luxembourg. With six weekly rotations, this aircraft became one of the most utilized in the world. East-bound flights were usually made non-stop, but the then-short runway at Luxembourg almost always mandated fuel stops at either Shannon, Ireland or Santa Maria, Azores for west-bound flights. Keflavik, Iceland and Goose Bay, Labrador, were also used very infrequently, depending on the computer flight plan. International Air Bahama was discontinued when airfares from Miami - where most of its traffic originated - dropped to near-Nassau levels, to more major European cities like Brussels, Belgium; Amsterdam, Netherlands and Frankfurt, Germany.[citation needed]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 727-100 | 1 | 0 | |
| Douglas DC-3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Douglas DC-6B | 2 | 0 | |
| Fokker F27 | 2 | 0 | |
| Vickers Viscount 700 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 |
- An Icelandair Boeing 757 aircraft was featured in a scene of the 3-D movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 92.
- ^ Southwest links with Icelandair - Baltimore Business Journal:
- ^ Icelandair 2005 Annual Report
- ^ Flight International 26 March 1970
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