Hi all, am considering a city break to Reykjavík, Iceland as its somewhere I have wanted to visit for a long time and there is a special offer on at the moment with Icelandair (flights and hotel accomodation for 3 nights = £199pp), but I have a couple of questions?
1. Has anyone flown with Icelandair, if so what did you think?
2. With all the economic turmoil affecting Iceland in general at the moment, is it likely to effect the airline at all in the near future?
I am erring on the side of caution because I don’t want to book a trip/flights with them and then they go bust before or whilst I am away, as there are not that many flights to/from the UK!:)
By: Comet - 13th October 2008 at 18:45
I have flown with Icelandair many times between 1983 and 1993, my last experience with them was so off putting that I vowed never to fly with them again, even though that meant never having another holiday in Iceland (the place is nowhere near as “unspoilt” now as it was when I first went in 1983!)
By: rdc1000 - 13th October 2008 at 11:52
Well, Icelandair are officially putting a brave face on things, and being the Island State that it is, I suspect they will be fine, as there is only one realistic way to and from Iceland from most of the world.
Remember also that the airline’s flights and packages are ATOL protected by the CAA, so IF (and I use the word loosely) the airline were to go bust, your holiday would be covered financially by the ATOL insurance scheme run by the CAA. If the company went bust when you were over there, the CAA’s ATOL scheme would make sure you get home.
It’s a fantastic deal, even upgrading to a better hotel…I’m tempted myself, just not sure when on earth I’d go!
By: cloud_9 - 12th October 2008 at 11:58
If you do come over, drop me a PM and I´ll see if I´m at home at the time. If I am at home, I´m willing to take you around and show you some of the aviation scene here, although it is mostly GA.
Thanks for your input galdri, and thanks for the offer, will certainly bear it in mind.:)
By: galdri - 12th October 2008 at 00:27
Looks like you have got a better price on your flight and hotel than we Icelanders are able to get for just the flight to the UK:confused:
Regarding your questions,
1. Due to my work, I´m a frequent flyer with Icelandair. They are OK as far as service goes. You´ll get a free soft drink and a meal of sorts. The meal is probably OK-ish if you fly only once with them. The interior of the aircraft is very variable. Icelandair is in the process of upgrading the interior, if you are lucky you will get the new interior with IFE system in the seat back. If you are not so lucky, you´ll get the old interior, which is tatty with very limited IFE. Even the old interior is different, if you get an old Icelandair aircraft with original interior you will have a reasonable leg room (have not measured it) but if you get an old Iberia aircraft the leg room will be less.
2. There sure is turmoil here at the moment but, at the moment, I´ve no reason to believe Icelandair is going under. Stange as it is, the general tumoil here is actually benefiting companies like Icelandair that have most of their cost in Icelandic Krona (pretty worthless at the moment), but the majority of their income in foreigin currency.
If you do come over, drop me a PM and I´ll see if I´m at home at the time. If I am at home, I´m willing to take you around and show you some of the aviation scene here, although it is mostly GA.
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October 10, 2008 at 11:03 am