Niceair wants to link the North of Iceland to European cities

Picture: Niceair

Article updated on 17th March 2022

Among the startup airlines that I track through the new airline list of 2022, this one caught my attention.

And not just because can’t really get enough of Icelandic-themed content (see my recent piece about Icelandair’s new branding and livery, btw!), but also because it means the launch of yet another local operator in a country that has possibly the largest airline industry in relation to population in the world.

This is also, apparently, a community-driven initiative with equity ownership shared by several local businesses with none of them having a majority position.

Niceair, which is a word play with N(orth)-Ice(land)-Air(line), plans to launch flights on June 2nd (as a live countdown shows on its website, which opened to bookings in March 2022 at the time of writing these lines) with an A319 (operating under the AOC of an unspecified European carrier).

Although Iceland has plenty of international air links, most of them are concentrated in Reyjkavik (or more accurately Keflavik, as its international airport is known) which is served by flag carrier Icelandair, newly created LCC Play and numerous other carriers (not to mention also the air cargo operators).

Niceair will not compete head on with incumbent carriers, since it will be based in the city of Akureyri, on Iceland’s northern coast and some 400km north-east from the capital. The startup airline wants to provide direct connections to European destinations (the exact list will be announced in a few week’s time apparently). On 17th March the first three destinations out of Akureyri were announced: London Stansted (STN), Copenhagen (CPH) and Tenerife Sur (TFS). Since Niceair doesn’t have its own AOC, the flights are going to be operated by Hi Fly Malta.

Akureyri has an international airport, but the only international service is Transavia’s seasonal to Amsterdam, the others being all domestic.

Starting an international airline out of a small and relatively remote city like Akureyri, which has a population of around 18,000, is quite a bold move. I guess it is also a bet on the fact that better air connectivity will also bring increased number of tourists. With the most popular hotspots in Western Iceland already being sort of a mainstream destination, there is demand for new (instagramable) landscapes. And, in this regard, the north of Iceland has its fair share of natural beauty and, like the rest of the island, is a gateway to all sort of nature-related and outdoor sports activities.

When it comes to the tourist market, though, a big challenge is going to be seasonality. According to pre-pandemic (2018) data from the Icelandic Tourist Board, while in the summer season the Northern Iceland region sees a respectable >500k overnight stays by foreign visitors. Unlike in Reykjavik, though, demand plummets in Winter, to almost negligible numbers, though.

Will new direct air links to Europe change this?