Iceland is seeing an uptick of interest as a destination, in part for its own natural attractions, and in part because its two major airlines are going head-to-head on more routes to Europe through Iceland.
Recent announcements have seen U.S. carrier United adding service to Iceland for the first time.
Now, Iceland’s ‘flag’ carrier, Icelandair, is adding year-round service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Reykjavik, starting next May 30, only weeks after its ultra low-cost rival Wow Air announced the same route, starting a week earlier. Wow’s service will be seasonal, and will use A330s that hold about 325 passengers; Icelandair will fly year-round with 183-seat 757s.
For the two Icelandic carriers, the stakes are different than for U.S. carriers. For United, Iceland is a destination. For Icelandair and WOW, Reykjavik is the hub of European networks that allow them to sell seats from U.S. destinations to many cities in Europe, changing planes at Reykjavik.
