Press release -
Icelandair announces new Aberdeen flight
Icelandair, the leading carrier of Iceland since 1937, will augment their global flight network with new service to Aberdeen beginning 9 March, 2016.
In cooperation with Air Iceland, Icelandair will provide passengers their second Scottish destination, and sixth in the United Kingdom.
The new Icelandair flights operated by Air Iceland between Keflavik (KEF) and Aberdeen (ABZ) offer travellers from North America a new flight option with convenient connections to Scotland’s third largest city.
Located on the coast of Scotland’s North Sea, the City of Aberdeen and the surrounding area offer cultural activities, exciting nightlife, the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and the region’s stunning, sprawling coastline.
Birkir Holm Gudnason, CEO of Icelandair said:
“Aberdeen is an exciting new destination for us and allows Icelandair to utilize smaller Bombardier Q400 aircraft to reach new markets. This new route will further broaden our network and give travelers even more options when traveling to Scotland."
Aberdeen service will operate four times each week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The two-hour, fifty minute, non-stop flight from Icelandair’s Keflavik hub will depart at 8:00 am, providing quick, easy connections for passengers arriving from the United States and Canada. Icelandair gateways in North America include recently launched Portland, Oregon; Edmonton and Vancouver, Canada, and beginning in May of 2016, Chicago, Illinois.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said:
“It is excellent news for Scotland’s tourism industry that Icelandair has added this new route from Keflavik to Aberdeen. Our strategy is to develop the country’s direct air connectivity by working with global airlines to bring the world to Scotland, and it is hoped the route will bring many more visits, not only from Iceland, but also from our key North American market, which alone contributed £524 million to the Scottish economy last year."
The cultural city of Aberdeen is the main centre of oil and gas industry in the North Sea, with numerous golf courses in and around the city and the majestic Royal Deeside, the region’s stunning Castle Trail.
Derek Mackay, Minister for Transport and Islands said:
“This new service is fantastic news for Aberdeen Airport and further boosts Scotland’s international connectivity. Keflavik is the gateway to Iceland, but also offers onward travel to a wide selection of destinations, including cities in the United States of America and Canada. It will bring real benefits to the business community in the North of Scotland, improving their access to international markets, and will no doubt prove popular with tourists as well."
Icelandair offers service to Iceland in three cabins of service from Boston, Chicago-ORD, Denver, Edmonton, New York-JFK, Newark, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.; and seasonal service from Anchorage, Halifax, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, BC. Connections through Icelandair’s hub at Keflavik International Airport are available to more than 20 destinations in Scandinavia, the U.K. and Continental Europe.
Only Icelandair allows passengers to take an Icelandair Stopover for up to seven nights at no additional airfare; and amenities with every ticket including on-board Wi-Fi access, personal in-flight entertainment, and two checked bags included.
– Ends –
Contact for further information:
Icelandair Media Contact:
Michael Raucheisen
Icelandair - The Americas
Phone: +1 857 403 1787
Email: media@icelandair.is
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- aberdeen
- iceland
- icelandair
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Food and Drink 2015- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
