Icelandair

Icelandair

IATA FI ICAO ICE Callsign ICE AIR
Founded	1937
Hubs	Keflavík International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Saga Club
Airport lounge	Saga Lounge
Fleet size	19
Destinations	32
Parent company	Icelandair Group
Headquarters	Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík, Iceland
Key people	Birkir Hólm Guðnason, CEO
Website	icelandair.com

Icelandair ehf is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, based on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík. It is part of the Icelandair Group and currently operates scheduled services to 31 cities in 13 countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean out of its hub at Keflavík International Airport. The geographical position of Iceland thus allows for one-stop transatlantic flights, which is one pillar of the airline's business strategy, along with traffic to and from the country.

During 2010, Icelandair transported 1,482,000 passengers, with an increase by 17 percent projected for 2011, thus expecting to come close to the 1.8 million mark. Up to 183 flights per week were operated during the 2011 summer season.^{[citation needed]}

History

Flugfélag in the early decades

The first Flugfélag Íslands Douglas DC-4, dubbed Gullfaxi, arriving at London Heathrow Airport in June 1953.

Icelandair traces its roots back to 1937, when Flugfélag Akureyrar was founded in Akureyri on the north coast of Iceland. Flight operations started in 1938 with a single floatplane of the type Waco YKS-7. In 1939 the airline had to be grounded when the aircraft was destroyed in a capsizing accident. The company moved to Reykjavík, were it acquired another Waco aircraft and was re-launched in 1940 as Flugfélag Íslands, which translates as Flight Company of Iceland. Previously, two unrelated airlines of the same name had existed in the country (from 1919 to 1920, and between 1928 and 1931). For international purposes, the name Iceland Airways was adopted.

The fleet was expanded with a Beechcraft Model 18 in 1942, and with two de Havilland Dragon Rapide as well as one U.S.-made Consolidated PBY Catalina in 1944, the latter being the first ever aircraft registered in Iceland to be flown to Iceland by an Icelandic crew from North America. On 11 July 1945, this aircraft operated the first commercial flight over the Atlantic Ocean for the airline, which led from Reykjavík to Largs in Scotland, with four passengers and four crew members on board. Regular flights to Prestwick Airport, Scotland and Copenhagen in Denmark, using B-24 Liberator aircraft leased from Scottish Airlines were launched in 1946.

In the same year, comfort and performance of domestic flights in Iceland could be improved with the introduction of the Douglas DC-3 Dakota. A total of six airliners of that type had been purchased, which remained in service with the airline until 1972, the oldest one being still flightworthy as of 2011. Until the late 1960s, Flugfélag concentrated mostly on domestic flights, where it initially faced fierce competition from Loftleiðir, another airline which had been founded in 1944. When a merger proposal of the Icelandic government was rejected by the two airlines, the domestic routes were split among them as a measure to ease competition. When Loftleiðir pulled out of the domestic market in 1952 to fully concentrate on international flights, Flugfélag became the main domestic carrier of the country.

International services stayed part of the business model of Flugfélag, though to a far lesser extent compared to Loftleiðir. In 1948, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster was introduced on those routes, and in 1957 two new Vickers 579 Viscounts were acquired, the first turboprop airliners to be operated by an Icelandic airline. In the 1950s, Flugfélag began to use the Icelandair branding for its international flights.

In 1967, Flugfélag was the first Icelandic airline to join the jet age, when a Boeing 727 dubbed Gullfaxi was put into service. Another 727 was acquired in 1971, and the aircraft type was operated until 1990. In 2008, the cockpit section of the "Gullfaxi" was put on display at the Icelandic Aviation Museum at Akureyri Airport, the original base of the airline.

Loftleiðir

Another company called Loftleiðir had been formed in 1944 by three young pilots returning from their flight training in Canada. Their company, whose name roughly means "Skyways", concentrated on Icelandic domestic air services for the first few years. The first planes used were two Stinson Reliants, and then a Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft.

For the first few years, Loftleiðir, like Flugfélag Íslands, concentrated on domestic air services. Besides the planes already mentioned, the company operated planes like Noorduyn Norseman, Avro Ansons and a Vultee Stinson Vigilant. One DC-3 and two Catalinas were also used domestically by the company in these early days.

Loftleiðir began scheduled international operations in 1947, using a Douglas DC-4 Skymaster. A year later, another DC-4 was added to the company´s fleet and regular flights to America commenced.

This latter DC-4, called "Geysir" crashed on the middle of Vatnajökull on September 14, 1950 spurring a famous rescue operation. For four days no-one knew where the airplance had crashed or if there were any survivors. In fact, the whole crew survived, and as the plane had been carrying cargo at the time there were no passengers.

In 1952 Loftleiðir took the fateful decision to cease domestic flights in Iceland and concentrate instead on international flights, both to Europe and North-America. The Icelandic authorities were very worried that fierce competition between the two Icelandic airlines on domestic routes would ruin both companies, and had tried to force a merger between them. This did not happen at the time, but instead the authorities split up the domestic routes and handed each company certain routes. Loftleiðir considered themselves coming off worse, and quit domestic flights altogether.

For the first few years Loftleiðir cooperated closely with the Norwegian airline Braathens SAFE, especially regarding maintenance, inspection, overhaul and repairs, but also flights between Iceland and Europe.

The main objective for Loftleiðir´s new board was, however, the Trans-Atlantic flight.

Loftleiðir´s pioneering low-fare services across the North-Atlantic then commenced in 1953. In a way, Loftleiðir can even be considered a sort of precursor of the low-cost carriers that started operating in the seventies. At the time, however, 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 airline for travel between Europe and North America.

For the first few years, Lofleiðir used DC-4s, but in 1959 the company started operating its first Douglas DC-6B Cloudmaster. By then, Loftleiðir had made Luxembourg its main hub in Europe. From 1955 onwards, Luxembourg was extremely important for Loftleiðir´s operations, and the company´s operations were just as important for the development of flight operations and tourism in the country.

In 1963 Loftleiðir started flying from Findel Airport in Luxembourg to America with a stopover in Keflavik Airport at no extra cost. At the time, Loftleiðir was the only airline that did this and, therefore, pioneered sixth freedom rights.

In 1964, Loftleiðir started operating its first Canadair CL-44D-4, and two years later the first of its four CL-44Js, a variant of the CL-44D4 stretched on request by Canadair. Loftleiðir was the only passenger operator of the turboprop, which was used as a cargo plane by other airlines. It was the largest passenger aircraft flying over the Atlantic ocean at that time, carrying up to 189 passengers. Loftleiðir marketed the CL-44J under the name "Rolls-Royce 400 PropJet". This led to the confusion that the CL-44J is sometimes referred to as the Canadair-400.

The late seventies were an exciting time for Loftleiðir. In 1969 the company acquired Air Bahama, a small airline operating out of the Bahamas, and a year later Loftleiðir became one of the founders of Cargolux, a thriving cargo airline. Also in 1970, Loftleiðir entered the jet age with its first two DC-8-63. In 1971 the company started flying between Iceland and Scandinavia with the slightly smaller DC-8-55.

During those years, Loftleiðir were often referred to, even by the company´s own staff, as "the Hippie Airline" or even "the Hippie Express". Many young Americans travelled to Europe after graduation, to experience the "old-world culture" and they were more concerned with getting there cheaply than comfortably or even exactly on time. Loftleiðir were not famous for speed or punctuality, but flying with the company became a sort of rite of passage for those young "hippies", one of whom was Bill Clinton, later US President.

In fact, when Hillary Clinton, the ex-president´s wife and then US Secretary of State, met with her Icelandic counterpart, Össur Skarphéðinsson, in May 2011, she fondly remembered the role Loftleiðir had played in enabling young Americans to travel to Europe. She still recalled Loftleiðir´s sometime slogan from these years: "We are the slowest but the lowest."

Merger with Loftleiðir

During the 1970s energy crisis, the economic situation for both Flugfélag and Loftleiðir worsened. The government of Iceland initiated a new attempt to merge the two airlines, which could be realized in 1973 following lengthy negotiations. Especially the staff of Loftleiðir complained that Flugfélag, although smaller, would have gained the upper hand. A holding company called Flugleiðir was created, which combined the two companies and began to streamline staff and operations. At the time of the merger, two thirds of the passenger traffic of the airline were international transatlantic crossings, and Flugfélag's fleet of DC-3s and 727s was enlarged by DC-8s of Loftleiðir. In 1979, Flugfélag bought all of Loftleiðir's assets in Flugleiðir, and the airline became known by today's Icelandair.

Post-merger Icelandair

A pair of Icelandair Douglas DC-8s at Luxembourg-Findel Airport (1983).

The Icelandair head office at Reykjavík Airport

The aircraft fleet of Icelandair remained mainly unchanged until the Boeing 757-200 became the new backbone for transatlantic flights during the 1990s. The domestic DC-3s were replaced by Boeing 737s, which were also deployed on European routes. The European hub at Luxemburg-Findel Airport had been taken over from Loftleiðir. Passenger count topped one million in 1995^{[citation needed]} as the company's business grew on a reputation as a "backpacker airline", similar to Loftleiðir, which had been referred to as "Hippie Airline" since the late 1960s. In the same year, it was begun to dismantle the Luxemburg hub in favor of today's decentralized European network, linking the largest cities non-stop to Reykjavík.

In 1997 the domestic operations of Icelandair, part of which had previously been operated under the Flugfélag Nordurlands branding, were combined with small airline Nordurflug to form the Air Iceland subsidiary, allowing mainline Icelandair to fully concentrate on international flights since then. In 1999, a new aircraft livery was introduced, as part of an image campaign designed to retire Icelandair's "backpacker" label in favor of an emphasis on business travel. From 2001, the Icelandair hub was moved to Keflavík International Airport. As Icelandair particularly focusses on flights to North America, the company was significantly affected by the airspace closure following the September 11 attacks in the same year.

The Flugleiðir holding was reorganized as Icelandair Group (for aviation business) and FL Group (for non-aviation finance and investment business) between 2002 and 2005, with Icelandair becoming the largest and most important of eleven subsidiaries. The wet-lease and charter department, which was founded in 2003, was named Loftleiðir Icelandic, thus re-introducing a familiar name.

Developments since 2005

An Icelandair Boeing 757-200 landing at London Heathrow Airport (2005).

An Icelandair Boeing 757-200, dubbed Surtsey at a gate at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen (May 2011).

In February 2005 Icelandair placed a firm order for two Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which were originally expected to be delivered in 2010. The order was later increased by another two airframes, but in the wake of delivery delays Boeing was plagued with and the difficult financial situation Icelandair was in following the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, it was announced in May 2011 that purchase rights of three of these planes had been transferred to Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Icelandair was hit hard by the air traffic restrictions following the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, which resulted in large parts of the European airspace being closed down. The air travel disruption coincided with the start of the important summer season for the company. The in-house crisis management organization began advance the situation once the scale had become known, which was backed by triple-daily crisis meetings at the airline's headquarters. Icelandair tried to operate as many passenger flights as possible, keeping its hub at Keflavík open and diverting European flights to airports that were still open, such as Glasgow International Airport or Trondheim Airport. The eventual closure of Keflavík due to the volcanic ash cloud coincided with an improvement of the situation towards Europe, which allowed Icelandair to move its headquarters with 200 staff to Glasgow and operate flights from there for ten days, with shuttle flights to Iceland's Akureyri Airport and round-the-clock bus shuttles onwards to Reykjavík.

In the aftermath of the eruption, the government of Iceland launched the successful "Inspired by Iceland" campaign to regain confidence in travelling to Iceland for tourists and business people, of which Icelandair was a leading participant and initiator.

When the Grímsvötn volcano erupted in 2011, Icelandair once again had to cope with airspace closures in Europe, though this time to a lesser extent due to a higher level of political preparedness. Weekly newspaper The Economist claimed that Icelandair could even take advantage when catering for disaster tourists.

In February 2011 Icelandair was chosen "The Knowledge Company" of the year and Icelandair CEO Birkir Hólm Guðnason was picked as "Man of the Year" in the Icelandic business community. In both categories the panel of judges of the Association of Economists and Business Graduates in Iceland said that "the fine results of the company in the previous year showed both a high degree of skill and specialist knowledge within the company as well as excellent leadership." In October of the same year, the airline was awarded the title "Marketing Firm of the Year in Iceland", by a judging panel from IMARK, the Marketing Association in Iceland.

After having launched scheduled flights to Washington D.C. in 2011, Denver was announced as new U.S. destination for 2012, bringing the total number of cities served in the country up to seven, along with Boston, Minneapolis, New York City, Orlando and Seattle. Also in 2012, Icelandair plans to resume domestic services, with regular flights to link Akureyri to its Keflavík hub.^{[citation needed]}

Inflight service

Icelandair offers three booking classes: Economy, Economy Comfort and Saga Class (the latter being equivalent to business class). Free meals are only available in Economy Comfort and Saga Class, and a buy on board service is provided for Economy Class passengers.

Some of Icelandair's aircraft are equipped with a free of charge AVOD in-flight entertainment system that includes seatback, touch-screen monitors for each passenger.^{[citation needed]} The airline claims to be especially children-friendly. As such, free meals, blankets, pillows and headsets are provided, and the inflight system hosts a selection of children movies.^{[citation needed]}

Icelandair Info, the inflight magazine of Icelandair, is printed four times a year in Icelandic and English. First published in 2008, it is also the product catalogue for the airline's Saga Shop. The frequent flyer program of the airline is called Saga Club.

Destinations

Main article: Icelandair destinations

Additional destinations are offered on the basis of codeshare agreements with Scandinavian Airlines, Finnair, JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines.

Fleet

An Icelandair Boeing 757-200 takes off from London Heathrow Airport (2007).

As of November 2011, the Icelandair fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 15.8 years:

Icelandair fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			B	E	Total
Boeing 737-800	0	10	20	140	160	Deliveries beginning in 2013.
Boeing 757-200	13	0	22 0	167 200	189 200	10 with 189 seats and 3 with 200 seats
Boeing 757-300	2	0	18	210	228	1 leased until the 787 is delivered.
Boeing 787-8	0	1	TBA			To be delivered in late 2012
Cargo Fleet
Boeing 757-200F	5	0	N/A			Cargo only
Total	19	11

Fleet history

Over the years, the airline operated the following aircraft types:

Icelandair historic fleet

Aircraft	Introduced	Retired
Boeing 727	1967	1990
Boeing 737-300	1997	2004
Boeing 737-400	1989	2001
Boeing 757-200	1990
Boeing 757-300	2002
Boeing 767-300	2003	2011
Douglas DC-3	1937	1970
Douglas C-47	1937	1970
Douglas DC-4	1937	1970
Douglas DC-6	1939	1972
Douglas DC-8	1959	1990
Douglas DC-10	1970	1980
Fokker F27 Friendship	1982	1992
Fokker 50	1992	1997
Vickers Viscount	1950	1960

Accidents and incidents

• On 29 May 1947, a Flugfélag Islands (as the airline was known at that time) Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered TF-ISI) crashed near Hjedinsfjordur during a scheduled domestic flight from Reykjavík to Akureyri, killing the 21 passengers and four crew on board. To date, this remains the worst aviation accident in Iceland.
• On 31 January 1951, the 17 passengers and three crew members on board another C-47 (registered TF-ISG) were killed when the aircraft crashed into the sea off the Icelandic coast near Hafnarfjörður. The pilots were attempting to land the airplane at Reykjavík Airport in heavy snowfalls following a flight from Vestmannaeyjar, when radar contact was lost.
• On 14 April 1963, a Vickers Viscount (registered TF-ISU) crashed on approach of Oslo-Fornebu Airport. All 12 people on board were killed.
• On 26 September 1970, a Flugfélag Fokker F-27 Friendship (registered TF-FIL) crashed into a mountain near Vágar, Faroe Islands while approaching Vágar Airport following a scheduled passenger flight from Bergen, in what is known a controlled flight into terrain. Of the 34 people on board, seven passengers and one crew member were killed.
• The disaster of Flight LL 001 (a Loftleiðir flight number, but the company had merged with Flugfélag at that time) with its 183 fatalities marks the by far worst accident in the history of Icelandic aviation.
• On 15 November 1978, the Douglas DC-8 (registered TF-FLA) missed the runway upon approach of Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka during a chartered Hajj pilgrimage flight from Jeddah and crashed. 74 passengers and 5 crew members survived the accident.
• On 22 January 2002, the crew of Icelandair Flight 315, a Boeing 757-200 registered TF-FIO with 75 passengers on board, unintentionally entered a series of extreme manoeuvres during a go-around from a low altitude following an unstabilised approach into Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. During the incident the aircraft was subjected to load factors in excess of the design limits, culminating in a dive followed by a +3.59 g pull up manoeuvre clearing the ground by only 321 ft. The speed limit for the flap configuration was also exceeded. Control was regained and a second approach was flown with the aircraft landing safely. The airliner was permitted to proceed on its subsequent scheduled flights without a technical inspection being conducted until 13 March of that year when its manufacturer Boeing recommended further maintenance work after having evaluated the Flight Data Recorder. The Accident Investigation Board Norway, which led the investigation into the incident, made four safety recommendations, including one to the wider aviation community on operational procedures regarding discontinued approaches.

External links

• Official website
• English website