Iceland Express was a low-fare airline headquartered in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

that was acquired by WOW air. It operated services to several destinations in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

using wet-leased aircraft. Its main base was

Keflavík International Airport Keflavík Airport ( ) , also known as Reykjavík–Keflavík Airport, is the largest airport in Iceland and the country's main airline hub, hub for international transportation. The airport is located approximately west of the town of Keflaví ...

History

The airline was established in 2002 and began operations on 27 February 2003. This contract was taken over by JetX Airlines and then by

Hello Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich Cou ...

. In the Autumn of 2008, Astraeus Airlines resumed operating all flights on behalf of Iceland Express with two Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The airline was owned by Icelandic investment group, Northern Travel Holding. Northern Travel Holding was acquired in full by Fons in September 2008. It silently changed hands to sister company Fengur before the bankruptcy of Fons. Fons was established by the two main owners of Fengur. Fengur acquired 100% of Astraeus Airlines. The company started trans-Atlantic flights to

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

, four times a week and

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is an international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh busiest airport in Canada ...

, two times a week, in June 2010, with a mix of 737s and two Boeing 757s operated by Astraeus. In late summer 2010, the airline published its winter schedule with the Newark flights year-round, as well as seasonal destinations such as Orlando. The airline announced that it would fly to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

in June 2011, although the Belfast and Miami services never eventuated. As of 2012 though, the airline did not offer flights to or from the United States. On 21 November 2011, Astraeus, the sole operator of all Iceland Express flights, suddenly ceased operations with immediate effect. As a result, Iceland Express began leasing two

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

s from Holidays Czech Airlines, a

Czech Airlines Czech Airlines (abbreviation: ČSA, ) is a Czech Republic, Czech aviation brand and privately held holding company. Between 1923 and 2024, it operated as an independent airline and served as the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Czech Airlines ...

subsidiary. On 24 October 2012, WOW air acquired Iceland Express' operations and network.

Fleet

Last fleet

As of November 2011, Iceland Express operated the following aircraft:airfleets.net - Iceland Express
retrieved 12 March 2023

Historic fleet

Iceland Express formerly also operated the following aircraft: *2

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

(leased from

Astraeus Airlines Astraeus Limited, trading as Astraeus Airlines, was a British airline based at Astraeus House in Crawley, West Sussex, England. Founded in 2002, and named after the Greek God of the dusk, it entered administration on 21 November 2011, ceasing ...

) *1 Boeing 737-500 (leased from Astraeus Airlines) *2 Boeing 737-700 (leased from Astraeus Airlines) *4 Boeing 757-200 (leased from Astraeus Airlines) *2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (leased from JetX) *3

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) MD-90 is a retired American five-abreast single-aisle airliner developed by McDonnell Douglas from its successful model MD-80. The airliner was produced by the developer company until 1997 and then by Boei ...

(leased from

)

References

External links

Iceland Express
(archived) {{Coord, 64.13764, -21.883714, type:landmark_region:IS-0, display=title 2002 establishments in Iceland Airlines established in 2002 Defunct airlines of Iceland Defunct European low-cost airlines