Icelandair to Offer Service to 11 Destinations

Icelandair plans to offer service to 11 destinations, June 15-30. These are Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Zürich, Frankfurt, Paris, Oslo, London, Stockholm and Boston, mbl.is reports.

Lately, the airline has only flown to London, Stockholm and Boston, with financial support from the Icelandic state to ensure air transport to and from the country.

In other words, service will resume June 15 to destinations the airline has not been able to fly to since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be nine flights a week to and from Copenhagen, but three to four a week to the rest of the destinations.

Birna Ósk Einarsdóttir, chief commercial officer at Icelandair, tells Morgunblaðið that the sale of tickets to and from Copenhagen jumped a week ago. For the first days, numerous reservations have been made. Birna states that schedules are only made two weeks in advance. She admits that should certain flights not meet sufficient demand, they could be canceled.

Right now, plans are underway to schedule service July 1-15. Birna states that the ISK 15,000 cost of testing has affected reservations.

“Unfortunately, some Danes have canceled, as have large German groups, which had reserved earlier. This appears to have a negative impact. The fee is high,” she states.

Icelandair works in cooperation with the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, and masks will be required on board the airline’s aircraft for the first weeks. That way, should a passenger turn out to be infected, it won’t be necessary to quarantine other passengers on board.

“Normally, the rule is that we need to report passengers seated in the row in front of and behind the person in question,” Birna explains, “but we attended a meeting with [representatives of] the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management before the weekend, and the way it looks like, if people wear masks on board, then there is less of a need to quarantine other people than the infected individual.”

Seven airlines will be offering service to and from Iceland in the coming weeks. Lufthansa joined the group of airlines over the weekend. Interest in flying to Iceland increased once authorities announced plans to offer testing for the novel coronavirus at the airport. Arriving tourists who opt for testing will be exempt from quarantine. 

The story has been updated.