On Monday 25 June Brussels Airport welcomed Icelandair’s newest member of the fleet: a Boeing 757-300 (TF-ISX) wearing a special livery: “Thingvellir“. Flight FI554 came in from Reykjavik Airport and landed on runway 25L. The aircraft was bought from Israeli airline Arkia, where it was flying for the past 18 years.
The tri-color red, white and blue fuselage represents the colors of Iceland’s flag and the 100th anniversary of Iceland’s independence and sovereignty. Exactly a century ago (1918) the island nation became independent, before the independence Denmark and Norway both controlled the island nation.
Like the two other special liveries (read below), this aircraft is named after one of Iceland’s natural attractions: Thingvellir is a national park in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km northeast of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík. Thingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasiantectonic plates. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.
Thingvellir is associated with the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which was established at the site in 930 AD. Sessions were held at the location until 1798. (wikipedia: Thingvellir)
Next to the special livery -100 years of sovereignty of Iceland- another special fact: the aircraft escaped from a double anti-air missile attack: on 28 November 2002, Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582, a Boeing 757-300, narrowly missed two anti-aircraft missiles shortly after take-off from Moi International Airport in Mombasa, Kenya. The plane continued onward and landed safely in Tel Aviv, Israel. The incident occurred approximately 20 minutes before the Kenyan hotel bombing. (wikipedia: Arkia)
TF-ISX is the third special livery in the fleet of Icelandair after TF-FIR (“Vatnajökull – 80 years of aviation“) and TF-FIU (“Hekla Aurora Borealis“).
© Ivan Coninx
