Icelandair's US Disappearing Act


Icelandair’s US Disappearing Act
February 15, 2020
By: Michael Gutta


Over the course of time from 2017 to the present Icelandair has faced several headwinds, notably the competition from fellow Icelandic (non-defunct) airline WOW Air and the Boeing 737 MAX grounding. In this analysis for Pelham Aviation, I will give a brief overview of 4 US destinations briefly served by Icelandair that have since had service terminated. By total number of departures during the period of service these destinations were: Tampa (TPA), Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Cleveland Hopkins (CLE), and Kansas City (MCI). The data shown below is departures data from the 4 mentioned airports with service terminating at Keflavik International Airport (KEF).

Icelandair B757-200 TF-FIR in Vatnajökull glacier livery at TPA on 11/17/2018 (Michael Gutta).

Tampa International received its first Icelandair flight on September 7, 2017. Service was initially twice weekly, which was later expanded to 4x weekly in 2018. Somewhat oddly, the service was only offered seasonally, with no service during the busy summer travel season. After service had terminated for summer 2019, Icelandair announced on June 19, 2019 that Tampa service would not resume in the fall “due to the 737 Max grounding.” Icelandair flights from Tampa to Keflavik were flown exclusively by a Boeing 757-200 during the period of service. In total, 166 departures were made from Tampa to Keflavik carrying almost 21,000 passengers at a 68.3% load factor. In the 2018 announcement for expanded service Icelandair North America marketing and public relations manager Michael Raucheisen stated, “We’ve been seeing a great demand for these flights in the Tampa Bay area market and … we expect this to be a great partnership for years to come.” Hopefully this service is resumed once the 737 MAX fleet is ungrounded and Icelandair is able to renew their fleet of aircraft.

Baltimore-Washington’s first flight on Icelandair took off on May 28, 2018 as a 4-times weekly flight to Keflavik. This flight was inaugurated by a Boeing 757-200, but was ultimately replaced by the Boeing 737 MAX 8 after 6 months of service. Service to BWI ended on January 6, 2019 after less than a full year and before the global MAX grounding. Baltimore saw a total of 116 Icelandair departures with over 14,000 passengers and a collective 70.2% load factor. It’s also notable that WOW Air served BWI up until their collapse on March 28, 2019. While this route may make a return once the MAX is certified to fly again, Icelandair also serves nearby Washington Dulles International (IAD) and may choose to serve the DC market from a single airport.

The third city of this review is Cleveland, which was briefly served by Icelandair for a 6-month period of 2018 from May to October. Cleveland Hopkins International was also served by WOW Air, which terminated service prior to that airline’s demise. The route from Cleveland to Keflavik was served almost exclusively by the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with only 3 flights being served by the larger 757-200. Cleveland saw 115 departures with over 12,000 passengers and a 67.4% load factor. Similar to Baltimore, this route may stand a chance of being resumed once the MAX is restored due to the lack of competition from WOW Air and the shorter segment length allowing MAX flights.

The fourth and final Icelandair destination for this analysis is Kansas City International. Kansas City received a seasonal service comprised of 6 months in 2018 and 2019 before flights ended on September 15, 2019. Data presented here goes through July 2019. Kansas City was served exclusively by the Boeing 757-200. In total, 96 departing flights carried nearly 12,000 passengers at a 67.0% load factor.

Ultimately, each of these 4 US destinations make some sense for Icelandair to pursue once the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is no longer grounded. Cleveland and Baltimore could be served exclusively by the 737 MAX, which is a smaller aircraft and thus cheaper to fly and easier to fill with passengers. Cleveland and Kansas City no longer have direct flights to Europe after WOW Air dissolved and Icelandair ended service. These mid-size US markets seem like good fits for Icelandair to provide either connecting flights to continental Europe or Origin & Destination (O&D) traffic terminating in Iceland for an exotic getaway. Service from Tampa to Europe now faces several forms of competition to Europe with British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Edelweiss, Lufthansa, and Norwegian each offering direct service. All of this aside, the most important facet of Icelandair righting the ship is getting planes back in the air and being able to maintain consistent and long-term service to establish name recognition in the United States.

Icelandair B757-200 TF-FIA at TPA on 12/8/2018 (Michael Gutta).

Let me know your thoughts on this blog post and potential future topics involving Icelandair, Tampa International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Kansas City International Airport, or anything aviation related.

Data compiled for the report and figures above came from the USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics T100 Tables. A few other links to news stories are also shown below:


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