Topic of the Week: Icelandair in Denver

I guess it makes sense, Denver has just two overseas destinations. My one reseration though is since only 3ish years ago UA used to have its own flights to LHR in competition with BA and discontinued those.

I could also see Frontier as a codeshare to get more connecting traffic, from more remote Rocky Mountain West Cities, if that’s something Icelantic Air does or doesn’t fit their business model.

Now I wonder when/if Denver will ever get non-stop service to Asia, its the largest US hub airport without, SLC already has it and is much smaller (but is a Delta hub). The few non-stop flights to overseas (their plenty to Canada and Mexico) from any of the Rocky Mountain West Airports (except for LAS) is going to become more and more of an impediment to the regions growth and connectivity for International business .

While it might not drive all airline decisions there is a lot of cultural overlap between Iceland and Colorado. Specifically in the love of outdoors, hiking, and other such activities. There is a lot of demand for flights overseas and their rates will likely drive enough people to their flights to make it work, especially now that DEN’s costs have come down.

I would also echo what SubwayNut said. Given IcelandAir’s partnership with Alaska Air and Jet Blue in those key markets gives precedent to them inking a deal with F9 to get all over the mid-west.

All in all there is some real excitement among the people I know here in Denver over this. I know several people that are going to take advantage of the Mile High Deal to take the first flight out. I personally am looking at the deal for 8 days. I mean really, 8 days with hotel for 2 is pricing at $2700. I might swing that for a week in Iceland.

I was going to post to say that Denver is a popular port of entry for European skiiers going to the (generally much better, in my experience) US ski resorts, and I wondered how it would justify a year round service. But having seen the comment on the free stopover: I’d suspect that the sort of people who might be interested in outdoor activities in the mountains in the summer would also be attracted by Iceland as a destination, so this could generate extra demand for them. I also quite like the idea of a day in a thermal pool recovering from my next ski holiday, so I might look into this!

DEN is actually the first Icelandair gateway that otherwise has limited European service. So, they’ll only be up against LH and BA for European service. If you’re flying to anywhere west/north of FRA, or wish to avoid the hassle that is LHR, KEF is certainly a worthy option.

I’ve always wondered how Icelandair could be successful in the U.S. markets they serve… but the strategy of entering markets with otherwise limited TATL service, such as DEN, actually makes sense to me.

This may work in cities like Denver that have limited trans Atlantic service. Maybe Icelandair should come to Phoenix, too. It’s 3614 nm to KEF, so a 757 might just make it. If this works, it might also open a door to Asia via Anchorage? Haneda is only 3011 nm from ANC, Beijing is 3442. I think those are within the range of a 757. I’m not sure about the exact range figures (I seem to remember a figure somewhere near 4000 nm) and I realize range is also affected by weather, winds, loads, etc.

For those flying from Denver to Europe, I imagine that in addition to the existing non-stop flights, there is already reasonable competition in frequencies at least for 1-stop flights from Air Canada, American, Delta and US Airways, which presumably would take virtually all the premium passengers.

Denver-Keflavik is 3,500 miles long; it’s a bit of a risk to be dependent almost entirely on leisure passengers for something this long.