LONDON – Iceland’s flag carrier Icelandair has announced the impending commencement of a regular scheduled service to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria will become the latest addition to Icelandair‘s route network, with the first scheduled flight on 15 November. Icelandair has previously offered non-scheduled charter flights for travel agencies and tour operators to Las Palmas, but this is the first time the airline operates scheduled flights to the Canary Islands destination.
Flights will be on offer once a week from 15 November 2022 to 11 April 2023, with departure from Keflavik at 9:30 AM every Tuesday.
Gran Canaria is the third biggest of the Canary Islands and packs everything needed for an ideal vacation, with endless sunshine, diverse landscapes, exciting ocean activities and relaxing beach escapes.
With a population of 870,000, it is often described as a miniature continent because of its diverse flora and fauna, high mountain ranges, volcanoes, rivers and waterfalls, sand dunes, beaches, forests and wine yards.
Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair CEO said: “We are excited to introduce Gran Canaria to our extensive Route Network, reaching 40 destinations in Europe and North America.”
“Last year we added Tenerife to our schedule and we have received very good feedback from our customers. After the integration of Icelandair and tour operator VITA, new opportunities like these have emerged, which strengthens our route network and increases the service to our customers.”
Icelandair September performance
At the same time of the announcement of the new Gran Canaria service, the airline has also released its September performance data, which predictably shows firm comparative growth in passenger numbers. Icelandair posted a record load factor for September.
In September 2022, the number of Icelandair‘s passengers was 387 thousand, compared to 212 thousand in September last year. The total load factor on international and domestic flights was 83.3%.
The number of passengers was 86% of the September 2019 passenger numbers, while capacity reached 84% of 2019 levels. The number of passengers in Q3 2022 was more than double the number for the same period in 2021.
The number of passengers on international flights was 362 thousand compared to 191 thousand in September 2021. The number of passengers to Iceland was 141 thousand and from Iceland 48 thousand. Via passengers were 173 thousand, or 48% of the international passengers.
On-time performance on international flights was 71%. On-time performance was affected by several factors, mainly weather at Keflavik Airport and aircraft maintenance.
The load factor on international flights was 83.4%, compared to 62% in September 2021. This is a record load factor for September. The number of passengers on domestic flights was around 25 thousand compared to around 21 thousand in September 2021.
On time performance was 71% and was affected by a lack of aircraft due to aircraft maintenance. The load factor on domestic flights was 78.5% compared to around 71% in September 2021.
