Icelandair, Southwest to Launch Partnership in 2025

Pittsburgh International Airport’s largest airline is partnering with its newest European carrier.

On Thursday, Southwest Airlines and Icelandair announced they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will initiate a bilateral partnership between both airlines. The partnership, expected to begin in 2025, will allow travelers to seamlessly connect between both airlines’ networks in the U.S. and Europe.

The partnership comes after Southwest announced that it will begin partnering with international carriers – a new strategy implemented by the airline – to expand its network and allow its travelers to reach more global destinations, generating more travel demand.

Icelandair will become Southwest’s first interline carrier in over a decade after its partnership with Mexico-based Volaris ended in 2013. Southwest said it plans to add an additional interline agreement with another airline sometime next year.

“Icelandair will become our initial partner through a shared focus on warm hospitality and value in air travel that both carriers strive to offer, enabling Southwest to further our global reach beyond the nearly 120 destinations we serve in North America,” said Ryan Green, Southwest’s Executive Vice President, Commercial Transformation. “We’re grateful for the mutual confidence and enthusiasm that’s built a bridge between our two great airlines and aims to serve our customers and those of Icelandair on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Southwest becomes Icelandair’s third major U.S. carrier partnership – it has codeshare agreements with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue – and joins the more than 70 total partner carriers within Icelandair’s interline network.

“We are very excited to add Southwest t