Every two years, Icelandair hosts the Midatlantic travel trade show in Reykjavik, enabling travel vendors from the areas that the airline company serves to congregate and existing and promote their offerings to travel customers, traveling journalists, and to network with one another.
It’s constantly an excellent occasion, and this avgeek traveling press reporter always locates a lot of resources and tale concepts there.
We were also offered possibilities to see some really great behind the curtain stuff at Icelandair. The airline lately finished an addition to their existing training center in Hafnarfjörður, which lies between the nation’s key airport terminal in Keflavik and the primary city, Reykvavik.
The brand-new structure is quite contemportary and very European in its style; it’s a lovely addition.
However we were there primarily to see the plane things, and we weren’t disappointed. I was enabled to fly their 767 – 300 full-motion simulator, and the instructor programmed in a pair approaches to a complicated Icelandic landing field as well as to JFK airport in New york city City. I didn’t do also terribly, all things thought about, specifically thinking about that a 767 handles a reasonable bit in different ways than the Cessna 172 s I’m made use of to flying back home.
Updates on the Airplane change
We also got to have lunch with the airline’s C-suite people and ask whatever questions we had concerning the airline company.
One of the most substantial growths for Icelandair is the incorporation of Airplane airplane into its fleet. Traditionally an all-Boeing airline for its global procedures (they do have a half-dozen Bombardier De Havilland Canada DHC- 8 s for their domestic, Greenland, and Faroe Islands solution), Icelandair’s choice to include Airbus airplanes signified a profound shift in technique. The airline’s management has been evaluating the Jet’ gas performance, operational array, and traveler convenience, and appear delighted with the new jets so far.
Mentioning that, you can review our testimonial of their new A 321 LR right here; it’s absolutely a fantastic aircraft.
Icelandair is still heavily bought Boeing, having 21 737 MAX, 11 757 s, and three 767 s in their current fleet. They presently have two A 321 LRs, with 5 more on order, in addition to 13 A 321 XLRs on order, and it’s those jets that will ultimately replace the 757 s.
The airline is considering its long-lasting commitment to Boeing versus a possible full shift to Plane. Variables influencing this choice consist of cost effectiveness, aircraft performance, and general fleet uniformity. While Boeing airplane have actually long been the foundation of Icelandair’s procedures, the intro of Airbus jets questions concerning a potential steady phase-out of the 737 MAX for an extra uniform Airbus fleet. Nonetheless, in the meantime, Bogason claimed the airline enjoys with limit fleet and stays fully commited to making best use of the benefits of its current Boeing airplane, all the while keeping future fleet choices open.
Greenland tourism
Inquired about the capacity for increasing its solution to Greenland, which is positioned to come to be a desired tourist destination since the country has actually opened a new flight terminal that’s far better capable of handling big industrial airplane and larger guest lots, Bogason supplied a wait-and-see mindset.
Icelandair serves Greenland using the previous Icelandair Connect courses, which it incorporated into its own routine in 2021 after both consolidated. There are four destinations, currently offered by those previously mentioned three DHC- 8 – 200 and three DHC- 8 – 400 aircraft.
With Greenland having actually opened its increased primary airport at Nuuk in October 2024, which includes a brand-new terminal building and a new 7, 200 -foot path, in addition to both SAS and United revealing seasonal solution, tourist is anticipated to drastically enhance for the arctic nation. Icelandair and Air Greenland are presently the only providers offering year-round service.
“Greenland is special. I indicate, Iceland is unique, but Greenland is really, truly distinct. It’s a complicated market currently, and what makes it complex is that it’s inadequate to develop the path. You have to construct the resorts and the required framework,” said Bogason.
He attracted comparisons between Greenland’s present facilities and Iceland’s of 20 -plus years ago, when the country had plenty of visitors however insufficient tourism facilities to support them.
“I mean, look, just take a look at the firms that are in below (in Iceland) today. I mean, think of all of the business that need to be below to offer a good experience to big volumes of travelers. So this will certainly need to be a slow path. I assume we may be getting a bit ahead of ourselves with the huge aircraft can be found in from the united state, etc, this summertime into into Nuuk,” he said, describing his care in expanding as well swiftly right into a market that’s not yet gotten ready for an attack of travelers.
“We’ll see just how it pans out, but it’s a huge shock to an extremely, really little market, so it’s a complicated market, I assume,” he included.
Reaching be a traveler in Iceland
We were treated numerous standard visitor quits during our visit, consisting of the Lava Show , the only area in the world that makes lava day-to-day for an instructional experience; the fairly brand-new Skies Lagoon hot-spring spa, together with a bus scenic tour of the Reykjanes Peninsula, that included the Friðheimar tomato ranch , the geysir, which is the namesake hot spring and is the only Icelandic word taken on right into the English language. We additionally paused at Þingvellir national park, an additional geologic marvel and a UNESCO Globe Heritage Website. It’s a rift valley where the North American and European plates are dividing, gradually constructing colony.
Lastly, we had a most wonderful dish at Sümac Grill + Drinks in downtown Reykjavik. I’m not usually one to discuss dining establishments, yet this place was something special, specifically exactly how with dignity they handled my oddball food allergic reactions by in fact custom-making what I would certainly gotten to match– also the sauces, which are normally premade in resaurants as busy as this. Drop in and reveal them some AvGeek love if you’re in town.
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