Icelandic operator, Niceair, has suspended all operations and canceled flights due to, as reported, administrative issues with its charter aircraft.
Cancellations and Suspensions
Niceair is an airline offering flights from Iceland to various points in Europe. The airline commenced operations last year in June.
Niceair is known as a “virtual airline”.
This is an airline that sells tickets for flights, but the aircraft is operated by another company under their approval certificates.
For Niceair, the flights were operated by Hi Fly Malta on their Airbus A319 aircraft.
Niceair began offering tickets on flights in June 2022 with routes from Akureyri to Alicante, Copenhagen, Tenerife, and London.
The London flights ceased over issues with ‘Brexit’. It was due to commence services to Düsseldorf in May 2023.
As reported by mbl.is, the website of Morgunblaðið, the Icelandic newspaper, quoted the Niceair Managing Director, Lúðvík Sigurjónsson, as confirming the suspension of operations being due to the airline having “not secured an airplane“.
Reports suggest the access to the A319 was removed due to contractual obligations not being fulfilled by the operator of the aircraft to the owner of the aircraft. However, other reports have refuted this.
In the article published by mbl.is, Sigurjónsson was quoted as saying, “We have been working day and night to find an airplane in recent days.”
According to data from ch-aviation, the aircraft was reported as being retired by the operator in March and is listed as “to be scrapped”. Other reports show a retirement date for the aircraft of late April 2023.
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One Year In for Niceair
As Niceair approaches its first anniversary of offering flights, this is an unwelcome hurdle prior to the European peak summer season.
According to reports, the airline had announced positive financing, a strong booking position, and a positive outlook for the rest of the year.
“This is a sad outcome in light of the progress made to date and the good prospects, as well as the company’s proper completion of a financing round to ensure its operations are on the way, which has been ongoing since the end of the year,” Sigurjónsson was quoted.
We have been maintaining regularly scheduled flights between North Iceland and Copenhagen, and Tenerife since June of last year with 71% capacity.
The airline hopes to resolve the issue before the Summer season and return to its regular scheduled flying.
The Icelandic airline said it had operated flights to Copenhagen and Tenerife at 71% capacity since flights commenced last year.
The MD also stated the market had been stronger and more efficient than previously expected.
“This is a sad outcome for everyone. We regret the inconvenience caused for our customers,” says Sigurjónsson concluded.
