Southwest and Icelandair Expand Partnership to Pittsburgh

Travelers on Southwest Airlines and Icelandair are now able to use Pittsburgh as a connecting city when flying between the U.S. and Europe.

The expansion of the airline partnership was announced on June 2, adding Pittsburgh International Airport as a gateway for Southwest fliers to connect to Icelandair’s European network via Reykjavik.

Travelers can book connections through PIT on Icelandair’s website and select third-party platforms, with flights starting on July 14. Southwest plans to integrate these connections into its own website in 2026, coinciding with the airline’s transition to assigned seating.

In addition to Pittsburgh, Orlando and Raleigh-Durham join the existing gateways at Southwest’s bases in Baltimore, Denver and Nashville, which were added earlier this year.

“We are very happy to announce our growing partnership with Southwest, following the success of our initial collaboration launched earlier this year,” Icelandair President and CEO Bogi Nils Bogason said in a statement. “Our joint service will now include flights to and from six cities in the U.S., adding Orlando, Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham, creating even more connection opportunities for our customers traveling with Southwest to destinations across North America. At the same time, Southwest’s customers will enjoy access to our extensive connections to Iceland and beyond.”

Southwest 737s at Pittsburgh International Airport on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Evan Dougherty)

The partnership, announced in September 2024 and formalized in January 2025, allows Southwest and Icelandair customers to book single itineraries that combine flights on both airlines and to check baggage through to their final destinations.

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The collaboration is part of Southwest’s strategy to expand its network and provide its customers access to more global destinations, generating more travel demand. Southwest also announced last week that it is partnering with China Airlines, which will add connections across the Pacific from select U.S. West Coast markets.

For Icelandair, the partnership expands its reach into the U.S. and strengthens its extensive route network throughout North America, a region Icelandair continues to focus on growing. Icelandair serves more than 20 destinations in North America and nearly 35 destinations throughout Europe.

PIT is one of a handful of U.S. airports where Southwest and Icelandair both operate. Pittsburgh is the fifth-largest Southwest station served by Icelandair in the U.S., only behind Denver, Baltimore, Nashville and Orlando, based on scheduled seats through September 2025, according to data from industry analytics firm Cirium.

Several Southwest markets from PIT connect bi-directionally to Icelandair’s Pittsburgh-Reykjavik route including Chicago-Midway, Nashville and Tampa. Additional one-way itineraries to Reykjavik are available from other markets Southwest serves from Pittsburgh.

Southwest remains the airport’s leading market carrier in terms of passenger traffic, accounting for over a quarter of PIT’s total passengers in May. Last month, Southwest celebrated 20 years of service in Pittsburgh, highlighting the carrier’s success and growth in the market, which now includes 20 destinations, the most of any airline at the airport.

RELATED: Southwest Celebrates Two Decades of Steady Growth in Pittsburgh

Icelandair began service at PIT in 2024 with seasonal service to Reykjavik as the airport’s second nonstop route to Europe, joining British Airways’ year-round flights to London Heathrow. Icelandair’s four-times-a-week service between Pittsburgh and Reykjavik resumed this spring with an earlier start date in April, scheduled to operate through late October.