newstodate.aero

Nov 27, 2023 (newstodate): Icelandair sees a new future with Airbus after signing an MoU in April 2023, later firmed up, for the purchase of four Airbus A321LR and 13 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, with purchase rights for another 12 aircraft.
   The new long-range aircraft will replace the airline's 17 aging Boeing 757 aircraft and significantly widen the reach of the carrier from its hub at Keflavik Airport.
   Already weighing heavily on its route map, the US market may see the addition of potential new routes to Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and New Orleans.  
   The carrier is also planning to launch flights to new routes to Canada, as well as to Mexico and Cuba with destinations such as Cancun, Havana and Varadero.
   Today, Icelandair serves 13 destinations in the United States and two in Canada and in May 2024, the airline will launch two new routes to Pittsburgh and Halifax.
   In a podcast interview in May 2023, the Group's CEO Nils Bogason said that the company is currently discussing internally whether there is a possibility of putting one or two Airbus aircraft into use as early as next summer, 2024.
   Stressing that no decision has been made yet, an early implementation may ease the introduction of the planned Airbus A321 from 2025.