Icelandair Makes Pittsburgh Debut

At 7:16 p.m. May 16, Icelandair’s first nonstop flight between Reykjavik, Iceland, and Pittsburgh touched down on Pittsburgh International Airport’s Runway 32 under clear afternoon skies.

“Icelandair 831… welcome to Pittsburgh,” PIT Air Traffic Control transmitted to the flight crew as the aircraft exited the runway.

Upon landing, the flight taxied to gate C55 and a huge gate party with passengers, airport staff and Icelandair representatives celebrating Pittsburgh’s newest airline and nonstop flight to Europe. The celebration included a Northern Lights-themed cake, an ice sculpture of an Icelandair plane, balloons and free Iceland-themed giveaways.

PIT and travelers also celebrated Icelandair throughout the week in the Airside Center Core with cutouts of Icelandic horses and glaciers, a balloon wall of the Icelandic flag, a prize wheel, cookies and PIT-themed swag items.

Icelandair’s inaugural flight marked the return of nonstop flights between Pittsburgh and Iceland for the first time in over five years. The route was last served by start-up WOW Air between June 2017 and January 2019.

“We hope that this will make it easier for the people of Pennsylvania to visit our beautiful island, enjoy its nature and get to know our culture,” said Icelandair Chief Commercial Officer Tomas Ingason, who arrived on the inaugural flight from Reykjavik.

Reykjavik is Pittsburgh’s second nonstop destination to Europe, joining British Airways’ existing service to London Heathrow.

With Icelandair operating four weekly flights to Reykjavik and British Airways’ six weekly flights to London, PIT is now connected to Europe via nonstop service seven days a week. Combined, both airlines will offer more than 5,000 seats per month this summer, the most nonstop transatlantic capacity between Pittsburgh and Europe since 2018.

“Icelandair is part of the growing international portfolio that we have here in Pittsburgh,” said Bryan Dietz, PIT’s senior vice president of Air Service and Commercial Development. “This is great news for the people of Pittsburgh, for the people of Iceland and those who are going to discover not only what Pittsburgh has to offer, but what Europe has to offer.”

Icelandair’s Pittsburgh-Reykjavik route is expected to generate approximately $9 million in economic impact to the region and support 80 local jobs.

While Icelandair will provide a link for Pittsburghers eager to visit Iceland, the flight is also expected to bring leisure and business traffic from Europe to the region.

Icelandair operates the Pittsburgh-Reykjavik route on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays seasonally through late October. Flown with a Boeing 737 MAX 8, the outbound flight departs Pittsburgh at 8:30 p.m. and arrives in Reykjavik at 6:25 a.m. local time. The inbound flight departs Reykjavik at 4:55 p.m. local time and arrives in Pittsburgh at 7:20 p.m.

More Europe connections… and with a stopover

With Icelandair, travelers can connect seamlessly to more than 25 destinations acr