Icelandair launches flights from Detroit to Iceland

[Jimaz]

But, but why? I'm not saying there's no reason. I'm just asking what the reason is.

ROMULUS, Mich. {FOX 2} - Icelandair announced it would be adding seasonal flights from Detroit Metro Airport to Reykjavík, Iceland.

According to a news release, the flights will begin May 18, 2023, with four weekly non-stop flights through October 30, 2023.

Flight 872 will depart to Iceland at 8:30 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays utilizing a 160-seat Boeing 737MAX. Return flight 873 will depart Iceland bound for Detroit at 5:00 pm on the same day and arrive at 6:25 pm.

The flight time from The Motor City to Iceland is approximately six hours, with connections available at Icelandair’s Keflavík International Airport hub to more than 25 destinations in Iceland, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and Continental Europe.

Icelandair passengers can also take a Stopover in Iceland for up to 7 nights at no additional airfare en route to their final destination....

To celebrate this announcement, Icelandair is offering round-trip fares of $499* to Iceland and selected European destinations for travel from May 18, 2023 – October 30, 2023, when booked by December 4, 2022. Passengers may also travel in Saga Premium class during the sale for only $999*. The sale starts today at noon....

• Icelandair

[casscorridor]

But, but why? I'm not saying there's no reason. I'm just asking what the reason is.

• Icelandair

The reason is to provide an affordable alternative for transatlantic flights. Icelandair is betting there will be enough customers willing to stop over in Reykjavík to make it worth their while.

Similarly, Jet Blue recently started flying to Detroit, and offers cheaper airfares to Europe, via Boston or JFK, than the big 3 international carriers.

It's usually very expensive to fly to Europe from Detroit, whereas from New York it's much cheaper [[think $300 round trip instead of $1k+). This is because there is lower demand and a lack of competition in Detroit, which hosts only one airline's hub.

Delta/Skyteam alliance airlines are the only ones who fly direct either to Europe or Asia. So direct routes will continue to be very expensive regardless of the new competition. But hopefully connecting routes will get cheaper.

[401don]

I'm not into nature and scenery, so not a place I would want to visit, but Iceland has become a very popular tourist destination the last few years. I have a few friends who've gone.

[Richard]

But, but why? I'm not saying there's no reason. I'm just asking what the reason is.

• Icelandair

Most likely to beef up the tourist trade,before Covid my friend from the UK could fly round trip from Manchester England to Orlando Florida for 59£ which at the time was like $62 off peak season.

After COVID restrictions released they did a 10 day cruise from the UK to Iceland,cabin with a water view,all inclusive except for drinks after dinner for $600 USD,going through the fjords of Iceland is beautiful and has become very popular.

But to me,traveling through Canadas remote waterways where the islands are,wilderness wise holds the same beauty,but without the icebergs.

You have to really be into the raw unmolested beauty that nature provides to really enjoy it,it’s not for everybody.

But then again millions are drawn to a crack in the ground of the Grand Canyon every year,so there is a market.

The cruise ships that dock are only in port for 2 hours,so the businesses open for the 2 hours then shut until the next ship arrives,it could be a week later,it looks like they are trying to encourage a longer stay with the week bonus flight.

Greenland is also become a popular tourist destination,after people had their laugh about the U.S. purchasing Greenland,China picked up on the opportunity and invested billions into their infrastructure and now they are looking to also build the tourist trade.

The strait between Greenland and Iceland is where the Swedish navy spotted the German battleship Bismarck and Prinz Eugen as they were trying to break through to the Atlantic and cut off shipping from the United States,the destination from Detroit to Reykjavík was where the British had a massive wartime port at that time.

The connection between Detroit and Reykjavík is,those items manufactured in the arsenal of democracy that Detroit was,flowed through that port before being brought to the rest of Europe.

History wise it is a very symbolic connection and may be why they based it in Detroit.

Two cities that played a major role that helped changed the world.

It shows how close Germany came to being able to strike U.S. soil and there would have been little we could have done to stop it.

The HMS Hood and the Prince of Wales disabled the Bismarck by a stroke of luck when a stray torpedo disabled the rudder,the British war ships where tiny and no match for the massive Bismarck,but with the disabled rudder it could only go in circles,it was trying to escape to occupied France for repairs when the rest of the British fleet caught up to it and pounded it for hours before it sank.

only 3 survivors from the HMS Hood when she sunk,1,415 perished in the 6 minutes it took for the Bismarck to launch and one shell took out the HMS Hood which was the largest battleship outside of the Bismarck.

Had the Bismarck been allowed to go through the straights they would have been able to hit the U.S. coast on the Atlantic side with impunity at a cost of hundreds of thousands of American lives.

1415 British sailors on the HMS Hood alone gave their lives to save that many American lives.

It was one of the most decisive naval battles in WW2.



What has happened is because the ice packs have broken up it has opened the seas up which can be like glass at the right time,so it has become a land of new opportunity of sorts.

The downside is Russian soil is 40 miles from U.S. soil so as the ice packs break up it has become a whole new playing field up there because it also opens Russian trade routes with out the need to use ice breakers.So you can kinda see why we have such an interest in helping to pound on Russia in another region,it helps keep things calm where they are 40 miles from our coast and were starting to grow ambitious,so they needed a spanking sooner then later.

Not many are aware but we have been quietly building a rather large military presence up there in the past few years.

We still have an airbase and naval base in Iceland,it was deactivated after the Cold War but has now been reactivated,they may be also planning on sub contracting the moving of military personnel through Detroit with this route also,as that base has close ties with your military air base up in the UP.

Remember,those flights work both ways and could build tourist trade on both ends.

[Atticus]

I think this new flight is a great addition for DTW, and the flight will do well financially.

As mentioned upthread, I would also guess the majority of passengers who end up taking this flight will be connecting onward to Europe on the cheap, even though obviously there will still be many who use it just to visit beautiful Iceland. Delta has been able to get away with semi-monopolistic pricing from DTW for a long time, which suppresses Transatlantic demand by pricing out some potential passengers. This flight will help bring a more affordable alternative, albeit with the Iceland layover. You get what you pay for… but at least now there is that option.

I also suspect that DTW has been on Icelandair’s radar for a while, but the flight wasn’t able to be added because the planes Icelandair needed to fly the route were in production delay for several years. Now that Iceland air finally has the planes in possession, they can add the route. It only seats 162 passengers, so they don’t need to sell as many tickets as compared to the large wide body planes Delta uses on their European flights.

Again, I think it’s great for the DTW market to have this competition. There are also some pretty good inaugural flight deals for those looking to travel in summer 2023, but I would buy quick. Those prices aren’t going to stay low much longer.

[13606Cedargrove]

I have some friends that have travelled there and really enjoyed it. The low fares get you there and back. But while you are there, be prepared for one of the world's most expensive travel destinations. On the upside in terms of expense, the people I know felt you only need 3 - 5 days to make it worthwhile trip in terms of sights to see.

[mkd]

Delta/Skyteam alliance airlines are the only ones who fly direct either to Europe or Asia. So direct routes will continue to be very expensive regardless of the new competition. But hopefully connecting routes will get cheaper.

Lufthansa flies direct to Frankfurt and Royal Jordanian to Amman. But yes, more competition will be great and hopefully this routes lasts at least a little longer than Wow Air's direct service to Reykjavik a few years ago.

[Hermod]

Iceland Air is not making its money on people going to Iceland. Flights come in from several airports in the US arriving at roughly the same time. There is a big mix in the Reykjavik Airport and flights depart for various European cities. Paris and London don't want them, but they do serve the Scandinavian capitols and Luxembourg. Fly Detroit-Reykjavik change to Reykjavik-Luxembourg and you are right in the center of the European rail net. Going home, do the same in reverse. They really have some great rates US to Europe and return.

[13606Cedargrove]

Another European travel tip: Aer Lingus. Rates are reasonable. You fly to Dublin and connect to multiple destinations in Europe and elsewhere. A big plus when flying back to the US is that you can clear US Customs and Immigration in Dublin. You fly back to a domestic gate and you are on your way home.

[MikeM]

Delta retaliates in Detroit with new transatlantic route

Delta will add a new route from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to the Keflavik Airport near Reykjavik, Iceland, beginning on May 15, 2023. The new flight will operate seasonally throughout the summer and will end on Oct. 27, 2023.

The airline plans to fly the route four times weekly, departing the U.S. as DL Flight 236 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The return Flight 237 will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The new flight will be available for purchase beginning this weekend, a carrier spokesperson confirmed to TPG.

Delta won't be able to sell connections beyond Reykjavik, but it can tap into its big network in Detroit to offer plenty of convenient domestic connections for travelers looking to visit Iceland. In fact, Delta plans a pretty extensive schedule next summer to Iceland. The Detroit service will operate in addition to flights from New York and Minneapolis-St. Paul to Iceland.

[Richard]

There seems to be a pattern forming with the majors cutting regional flights to metros under 300k population and beefing up their international routes.

I wonder if it has to do with the EV planes that are starting to gain traction,they would be competitive regionally because they have no fuel costs and the big jets are becoming more efficient long distance and EV planes would be swimming 1/2 of the way there.

For those that remember Pan Am ,even though they went bankrupt,they still own the rights for the international flight routes that they established back in the day,so they still get a cut of every international flight.

[Jimaz]

Apparently the volcanic displays can be fickle but Iceland has made a tourist industry of it regardless. I could do without the British banter but it's an interesting challenge to decode through the chuckles.

Tom takes a walk up a hill

It's time to right a wrong. ■ With thanks to, uh, the nation of Iceland, I guess.

• Icelandic Lava Show

[Atticus]

There seems to be a pattern forming with the majors cutting regional flights to metros under 300k population and beefing up their international routes.

I wonder if it has to do with the EV planes that are starting to gain traction,they would be competitive regionally because they have no fuel costs and the big jets are becoming more efficient long distance and EV planes would be swimming 1/2 of the way there.

For those that remember Pan Am ,even though they went bankrupt,they still own the rights for the international flight routes that they established back in the day,so they still get a cut of every international flight.

I could write a whole thesis on why the regional flights are going away. Two main issues: 1) 50 seat regional jets are getting too old to fly, and 2) Not enough pilots, so the smaller routes which have the least amount of passengers [[and thus generally least profit) are the ones to get cut.

Part 1: The 50-seat regional jets haven’t been manufactured in years, and the economics don’t make sense for manufacturers to construct new ones. Like beater cars though, the old small jets are mostly all paid off so the existing ones the major airlines do have keep getting flown until they become too expensive to maintain… which is what is happening now. I have been told by reliable sources that the 50 seat Delta regional jets will be completely gone from DTW by this summer, sans a few “short” flights to northern Michigan & U.P. United and American are a few years behind Delta in the retirement of those planes, but they are on a similar path.

Part 2: After the 2009 Colgan plane crash, the FAA upped the flying requirements for commercial airline pilots from 250 to 1500 hours experience to be licensed. A lot of want-to-be-pilots simply couldn’t afford the extra 1250 hours of training, and pursued other career paths. Hence we have been going on about 10 years now of significantly fewer new pilots going through the licensing process. The demand drop during Covid masked this shortage, but as passengers have returned there aren’t enough pilots to fly them.

So here we are. There is a lot more I could discuss on this topic, but we are headed towards a paradigm shift on how regional flights for the majors will look going forward. In a lot of ways, we are already there. DTW is obviously big enough that it will have service from the majors. Grand Rapids and Traverse City are the other two safe airports in the state. Flint will probably keep cheap-flights to sunny destinations, but I doubt the majors stay there. Every other small Michigan airport needs to be very careful though.