75 years since the first flight to USA by Icelandair’s predecessor

In August 1948, 75 years ago, Loftleiðir Icelandic Airlines, Icelandair’s predecessor, started scheduled flights between Iceland and the United States. The first flight was to New York, on the Douglas DC-4 Skymaster plane Geysir. The captain on the first trip was Alfreð Elíasson and the pilot Kristinn Olsen. The two, together with Sigurður Ólafsson, were the pioneers who initiated the foundation of Loftleiðir Icelandic Airlines. The crew on the first flight also included Axel Thorarensen, Bolli Gunnarsson, Halldór Guðmundsson, Hólmfríður Mekkinósdóttir and Sigríður Gestsdóttir. The flight time to New York was a total of more than fourteen hours, with a fuel stop in Goose Bay, Canada. Icelandair now flies from Iceland to New York in less than six hours.

Initially, Lotleiðir got a certificate from the FAA to operate a total of six scheduled flights per month, either to New York or Chicago. In 1955, the company started scheduled flights between the United States and Luxembourg with a stopover at Keflavik Airport. This laid the foundation for Icelandair’s business model of connecting Europe and North America via Iceland. The operation has increased over the years and in July 2023, Icelandair flights to North America totaled over 600 to 14 destinations, and around 40% of the passengers were connecting between the two continents.

Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair CEO:

“The decision to start scheduled flights to North America 75 years ago is a sign of the great entrepreneurial spirit that has always been with Icelandair and the basis of our business model of connecting Europe and North America via Iceland. Through the years, we have utilized Iceland’s geographical location between the continents to develop our route network, and today Iceland is incredibly well connected to the world, which creates both social and economic quality for the nation.”