June 9th PLAY began daily flights to New York Stewart International from Keflavik International. Simple Flying was on the scene in Iceland when the Icelandic low-cost carrier inaugurated this transatlantic service.

One of three

Flight OG121 marks the launch of the airline's third United States route. The first of these just began in April in the form of the launch of operations to Baltimore/Washington International. Boston-bound flights then started in May.

Yet, expanding to New York brings another sense of intercontinental presence for the LCC, something which could be felt on the ground. The festivities were in full effect as PLAY’s leadership joined the crew to cut a special New York-themed cake at Gate D15 at Keflavik International.

USA flags, Statue of Liberty cutouts, and I Love NY-themed macaroons complemented the celebrations well as the bubbly kept flowing.

PLAY CEO Birgir Jonsson soon took to the stage to speak of the importance of the flight. He highlighted the tourism opportunities to be had on both sides of the pond.

Grand prospects

Notably, transatlantic flights will play a key role in PLAY’s business model. The trio of US routes will open up new opportunities to Iceland and beyond. With Iceland’s strong strategic location between the rest of Europe and North America, passengers looking to head across the Atlantic Ocean on a budget have new and effective options.

PLAY is the only carrier to operate international flights at New York Stewart. As a result, millions of those living in the suburbs surrounding New York City now have another option to fly out of the US rather than heading to the busy hubs of Newark and JFK. There is also plenty of potential for the tourism industry in the Hudson Valley, which may attract several visitors en route to New York City.

Overall, the cost of operating at New York Stewart Airport is far lower than at other airports in the area. Therefore, PLAY is able to offer low fares between the US and Europe as it takes advantage of less traffic on the ground.

Quick progress

This inauguration is great timing for the airline as it seeks to capitalize on its passenger load momentum. The carrier flew 56,601 passengers last month, which is a 54% rise from April when it transported 36,669 passengers. Moreover, the figure represents the same number of passengers PLAY carrier in the whole of the first quarter of 2022. Altogether, it reported a load factor of approximately 70% for May, with operations continuing to grow rapidly since commencing just under a year ago.

The Airbus A321neo aircraft, holding registration TF-PLB, departed at 03:15 GMT and landed just five hours and 31 minutes to land at 17:35 EDT.

Simple Flying had the pleasure of boarding Flight OG121 to New York Stewart. Be sure to check out our review of this new service in the coming days. We will include thoughts on both the outbound and return flight between Keflavik and New York Stewart.

In practice, less time taxiing and fewer moments being in holding patterns allow the airline to save fuel and in turn, costs.