SAS EuroBonus - OT: Icelandair announces new service to Anchorage, Alaska

Icelandair has announced its launching service from KEF to ANC starting on May 15, 2013. They will be operated twice a week on their 75W jets and timed to connect with their European network. They claim it will be 3 hours shorter than any other option between Europe and Alaska.

They also announced new service to St Petersburg (LED) and Zurich.

Icelandair has announced its launching service from KEF to ANC starting on May 15, 2013. They will be operated twice a week on their 75W jets and timed to connect with their European network. They claim it will be 3 hours shorter than any other option between Europe and Alaska.

They also announced new service to St Petersburg (LED) and Zurich.

Other planned service increase....

Denver will increase from 4 to 6 weekly
London Gatwick increase from 2 to 3 weekly
Munich increase from 3 to 4 weekly
Washington increase from 6 weekly to daily

Wow, I can see the logic in adding Denver in the US and St Petersburg and Zurich in Europe, but Anchorage!

Is there much Alaska-Europe traffic? Perhaps they want to tap into the lucrative Alaska-Iceland market :)

Other planned service increase....

Denver will increase from 4 to 6 weekly
London Gatwick increase from 2 to 3 weekly
Munich increase from 3 to 4 weekly
Washington increase from 6 weekly to daily

I must say that one aspect of Icelandair's business model that I do not understand is the Denver, Seattle and now Anchorage flights. They all essentially require having the plane sitting on the ground there for over 20 hours before it returns to KEF to connect with their bank of flights to Europe. With the 757 dirt cheap now, I guess it works but is it sustainable....

But you have to admit that if they code-share this smartly with the Alaskan airlines (whatever it's called) this provides a pretty smooth 1-stop connection from Alaska to Europe. I can only hope they have done their market research.

So why isn't Icelandair a part of any alliance?

But you have to admit that if they code-share this smartly with the Alaskan airlines (whatever it's called) this provides a pretty smooth 1-stop connection from Alaska to Europe. I can only hope they have done their market research.

So why isn't Icelandair a part of any alliance?

Yeah, problem is there are only ~700.000 people in Alaska and flying to Europe from the rest of North America via Alaska and Iceland does not sound too appealing to me. I guess this is a seasonal thing for European tourists.

The lack of cooperation with SK/EB is vexing!

I guess this is a seasonal thing for European tourists.

That was my thought as well, but I don't see Alaska as more than a small niche leisure market for European tourists. Europe has its own arctic area that's much closer and going on a Norwegian cruise compares favorable with an Alaskan cruise.

As for Alaska-Europe business travel, my guess is it's very small.

Wow, I can see the logic in adding Denver in the US and St Petersburg and Zurich in Europe, but Anchorage!

Is there much Alaska-Europe traffic? Perhaps they want to tap into the lucrative Alaska-Iceland market :)

Without looking into the geography, I'm thinking oil. I've been to places (like Aberdeen, Scotland), where I was surprised to see several different airlines fly direct to CPH daily. And it would not happen without the oil.

Also, doesn't matter that those are not Scandinavian oil fields, there is still engineering to be done. I know people here in Copenhagen who fly out of Europe on an almost weekly basis to visit oil rich places elsewhere.

DanishFlyer

I don't get this either. If it was for the energy industry, then I would think they'd offer flights to Houston before Anchorage. If it was to connect with Alaska Airlines network, then their existing flights to Seattle (an Alaska hub) should be sufficient.

Is this for cargo purposes? ANC is a large cargo hub.

This is a cruise and tourism feeder flight, 757s cannot lift cargo. Oil business traffic goes thru US Hubs.

Wow, I hadn't realized how close KEF is to ANC - only 3383 miles.

I took a look at the seat maps on ExpertFlyer on the westbound (KEF-ANC) segment. May loads look dismal (right now the inaugural has 23 seats occupied), but it picks up rather nicely in early June. I think this one will work out for FI, even without the AS partnership. Some late June dates only have a handful of seats open.

I've always wondered why nobody picked up on this, a small long-haul plane would be ideal on a direct Europe-Alaska route. The problem is, there is really only enough traffic for a single airline and doing it on their 757s kinda makes sense.

Anyone who has traveled to ANC via a US hub knows why this is a nice route. It's only a 7hour flight from KEF to ANC and only 2-3 hours from Mainland Europe to KEF. Your likely other transfers are ORD or SFO/SEA which are 9-11 hours from Europe before you board a 3,5-6 hour flight to ANC. That makes for a proper timesaver if there is little transfer time. And since ANC doesn't attract a whole lot of international flights, immigration will be swift.

And since ANC doesn't attract a whole lot of international flights, immigration will be swift.

Maybe one even could save time by going CPH-KEF-ANC-ORD - to avoid the immigration lines at ORD :p

lol :D

I've always wondered why nobody picked up on this, a small long-haul plane would be ideal on a direct Europe-Alaska route. The problem is, there is really only enough traffic for a single airline and doing it on their 757s kinda makes sense.

Anyone who has traveled to ANC via a US hub knows why this is a nice route. It's only a 7hour flight from KEF to ANC and only 2-3 hours from Mainland Europe to KEF. Your likely other transfers are ORD or SFO/SEA which are 9-11 hours from Europe before you board a 3,5-6 hour flight to ANC. That makes for a proper timesaver if there is little transfer time. And since ANC doesn't attract a whole lot of international flights, immigration will be swift.

DE also flies ANC-FRA, FAI-FRA, and YXY-FRA, respectively, on 767-300 aircraft. ANC has always seemed to perform well for Condor.